Weekend Stakes Beyers: Goldencents 105, Verrazano 95

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Dahoss

Wasn't that for the network to kind of get an idea of how to film the Belmont itself?

Yes, but it was also almost always the case in the days before TV. Like the Count Fleet, Whirlaway era, etc. When I studied there races ... they carded a cheap race at 12fs on dirt the day of their Belmont.

A couple years, the companion race at 12fs actually was run in faster time than the Belmont Stakes.

1944 for instance, a cheap handicap for Older Males was run in 2:32 flat just one race after Bounding Home won the Belmont Stakes over Pensive in 2:32 1/5

[JJP]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Yes, but it was also almost always the case in the days before TV. Like the Count Fleet, Whirlaway era, etc. When I studied there races ... they carded a cheap race at 12fs on dirt the day of their Belmont.

A couple years, the companion race at 12fs actually was run in faster time than the Belmont Stakes.

1944 for instance, a cheap handicap for Older Males was run in 2:32 flat just one race after Bounding Home won the Belmont Stakes over Pensive in 2:32 1/5

Back in the mid 40s, racing fans didn't know what they were missing. They could've been quarreling over whether the figuremakers broke apart the fig for the cheap handicap just to make Bounding Home's fig 12 pts higher.