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#1
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But I'm troubled by the perception that the 'class' of the races Saturday are somehow instantly 'poor' because they're maiden races. How is a field of 12 New Jersey bred dime claimers any better or more appealling than 10 NY bred maidens?
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All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984. |
#2
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![]() I don't like the card either, but I understand why it's bad. There's the biggest day of the year in New York coming up next Saturday and obviously the appeal of running on that day (+ the added overnight purse money) trumps. That being said... I think it's OK to call a spade a spade. This is NOT a good card for a Saturday at Belmont Park. It's becoming more and more common that this is what we get from NYRA, unfortunately.
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please use generalizations and non-truths when arguing your side, thank you |
#3
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![]() This sport needs a commissioner in the worst way. If something doesn't change the tracks in areas with a population will cease to exist and all that will be left is Indiana Downs and other tracks supported by rural degenerate meth-riddled slots/table players.
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#4
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__________________
please use generalizations and non-truths when arguing your side, thank you |
#5
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![]() Very true. I want to play New York.
The current trend of cheap claimers with 25%> scratches is extremely disconcerting. And it's happening not only in New York but also Kentucky and California. Drastic changes need to happen in order for these tracks to survive. The first move in the right direction would be to boot the IRS out of the game. |
#6
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![]() My opinion, as small amount of respect that it might get, is that they are running an awful lot of maiden races these days at BEL.
Last Sunday's card was particularly disturbing, 5 Maiden races (3msw, 2 mcl), 4 claiming races at 25k and down, and an allowance race. That's a Sunday card in May in NY? Overall in May of the 160 races run, a total of 60 have been Maiden races (30 msw, 30 mcl). 37% But in the past week or so the 19th-26th the numbers increase to 43% and instead of a 50-50 split btwn msw and mcl we've had 8 msw and 16 mcl, including 5 maiden claiming races on yesterday's card. While some of these races might make for good betting races (if you like throwing darts), the quality is just not there. |
#7
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![]() This is not just a Belmont trend, this is an industry trend. The lone exception is a one-year expcetion, and that's Monmouth (but they're not all allowance races either).
We are right in the middle of a changing shift in the overall quality of horse flesh this sport is producing. Quantity (at the expense of quality) is becoming a big problem, especially when you consider breeder awards etc. It makes more sense to breed 10 mares to a $2,000 stud than one mare to a $20,000 stud. The 10 mares, when factoring in rewards, have a greater chance of positive return than the one. This weekend I'll see horses run for more money as Louisiana-breds than non-La-breds which are running for less but are likely faster. ![]() The result of all this is cheaper races, which we have to get used to for the time being, from the top to the bottom. |
#8
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Moreover, NYRA isn't the only track that has a limited pool of horses to deal with. So, it's common to see the same horses over and over. Yet other racing secretaries seem to find ways of keeping these races both interesting and competitive, and, more importantly, BETABLE. What they do is switch up on the distances. So, for example, over at CRC, you have the same plugs squaring off every 7-10 days but one week they're sprinting over 5.5F, next time they're going 7F, then 6F, then 6.5F or any combination of these. Campo still thinks he's under AQU INNER constraints and that 'SPRINT' means '6F'. Most of the races presently at NYRA are just not betable. |
#9
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('bettable' has two 't's' though i think)
__________________
please use generalizations and non-truths when arguing your side, thank you |
#10
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RIP Monroe. |
#11
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![]() I tend to think this card is below par for a holiday weekend Saturday. I also think that by not having a dark day on Wed. they are spread even more thin.
Steve, I agree with your points about the politics but there is more than that. The game has changed dramatically over the last decade or so. The trend toward fewer races has tricked down from the graded stakes horses to listed stakes and allowance horses. The only horses running 10-15 times a year now are the cheap ones. That is what PJ and other racing secretaries have to contend with. There was a time when they simply wouldn't run MDCL on grass so trainers with those horses went elsewhere. They didn't run $15kMDCLNYB so those horses went to Finger Lakes. There are alot of horses running at BEL this meet that 5-10 years ago would have been at the Lakes beating up horses that had just come out of a pasture in Genesseo, because they had recency. Now they stay in NY and win bad races. There have been races at BEL this year won by horses who will never break 50 on the Beyers, EVER. NY racing used to be elite, the pinnacle of racing on the east coast. Now, it is no different, day in and day out from any other venue. NY has also handed over 2yo racing to KY. They will run the first 2yo's of the year today. They used to run 2yo stakes on Belmont weekend. Babies used to ease some of the stress of filling allowances and take the pressure off horses that had run all winter. If it were not for NYBreds, they might not be able to fill 2yo races 'til after July 4th. I'm not sure why this is since many of the KY baby races are overfilled and ames like Pletcher and Asmussen and others who run in NY are in them. I am sure that PJ would love to fill Memorial Day weekend with allowances and stakes but any horse that ran in the last 2 weeks in those levels probablywon't be back for another 2-3 weeks. Presuming that Belmont day purses get the usual bump, many trainers will be pointing for next weekend. While the handle at MON isn't level with that at BEL, they are up significanly from last year and it's fair to guess that some of that bump, is a loss to Belmont. Most players have a limited budget and wagers made and MON are wagers not made elsewhere.
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RIP Monroe. |
#12
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^^^ This is the type of info/opinion that the NY Horseplayers should be repeatedly sending in as "Letters To The Editor" to every newspaper, politician, and local TV Station in the State... There are no doubt problems in the Racing Industry... I frequently hear horseplayers lament about being the lowest priority...about being an under-appreciated but important component of the industry... The situation in NY is mostly a polictical one...many Horseplayers are constituents of the Politicians that are directly involved in the problem...Horseplayers have a little more leeway to rally public opinion... and/or to inform the non-horseplaying taxpayers/constituents of the huge amount of money the inept/corrupt politicians are failing to make available to the State budget/funds One way of looking at it is.... if horseplayers are not part of the solution ....then they may well be part of the problem...
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....stay lady stay...stay while the night is still ahead... http://www.playlist.com/playlist/15640118795/standalone Last edited by Payson Dave : 05-27-2010 at 08:38 AM. |
#13
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Everyone seems to long for the "good old days," but 20 years ago, a track like Churchill Downs had really poor racing with allowance races going for half the purse that a race in NY went for. It was not until purses were significantly increased in the mid-1990s that Churchill and Keeneland really took off and started to have an impact upon NYRA's horse population. Delaware and Philadelphia didn't have comparable purses, and places like Mountaineer and Charles Town ran nothing but $2500 claimers. The other aspect that has not been discussed here is the impact that another recent phenomonem, the mega-stables, are having upon the game. It's tough to get an allowance race to go with a large field when the horses eligible for the condition reside in only a handful of stables. Maybe the uncoupled entry rule will help, but I doubt it. I know it's a pipe dream nowadays, but racing would be far better off if no trainer had more than 40 horses. (As an aside, think about how remarkable Woody Stephens' Belmont record is given the size of his barn in the 1980s versus what Pletcher gets today.) The Pletchers of the world rarely turn down a horse, and if a horse can't excel at Belmont, they ship it to tracks like Delaware and Arlington so they can keep their win percentage up and not have to tell the owner that the horse is not MSW-worthy. Last edited by parsixfarms : 05-27-2010 at 09:40 AM. |
#14
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#15
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#16
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#17
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![]() ![]() Last edited by richard : 05-27-2010 at 12:12 AM. |
#18
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* form = subjective |