NYRA to no longer accept entries from horses who ran <14 days ago

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Where they will wind up with issues with the poor performance rule is when turf races get rained off (obviously not an issue now) and some blowout winner spread eagles the field against a bunch of turf horses running on the dirt. It isnt a huge issue but it can be a disincentive to stay in.

I rarely am a proponent of fewer races however in the case of NY winter racing I think that there is a point that might be valid that few have publicly stated. That is that because turf racing is so much more important that it was in years past and a far greater % of races are written on the grass in the spring-fall it makes sense that the pool of horses in NY to compete successfully on the dirt in the winter is smaller. Trainers likely have a greater % of turf only or preferred horses in their barns as compared to years past. Most regular trainers arent able to fill those stalls of the turf only horses in the winter with horses of equal ability so they take lessor/cheaper horses or just cut back. With Parx purses still pretty strong and Maryland racing on the upswing there arent that many out of town horses to attract either.

Great point on the off the turf races. I can also envision jocks who would otherwise wrap a hopelessly beaten horse up to come back and play another day now pushing the horse to try to make sure they are beaten by less than 25 lengths to avoid getting on the dreaded list.

As far as setting the rule of 8 races per day during the week, I agree that there are certain races that they should not be carding at Aqueduct and considering the variables you have stated there should be less racing. What I don't get is setting an arbitrary number of the amount of races run as opposed to instructing the racing secretary to stop carding some of the lower end races altogether in their discretion and having some cards with less races.

I am just having a hard time finding how these changes actually helps reduce overall breakdowns, the correlations appear to be lacking to me.