5 horses eased, 2 races Aqu-shuts down today
 

3 horses eased in the stretch the first race, 2 in the second. Aqueduct calls it a day.
http://www.equibase.com/static/chart...U111507USA.pdf

Seems justified. The horse comes first.

I see that Dynergy was one of those eased... I liked that horse. Hope he's OK.

Funny, I saw the topic and knew who authored the thread.

Myself, I tend not to take jockey's opinions at face value. But I'm crazy that way.

Then again, John Velasquez didn't ride either of the first two races, so his opinion carries even more weight for me.

Slop is apparently too dangerous these days. It could be a long, boring winter if this crap continues.

too sloppy, too windy, too cold, too hot.

is it just me or does it seem like some of our jockey colonies are getting more and more finicky?

they may be finicky, but they risk there lives on a daily basis. Its a dangerous sport and taking precautions sometimes isn't always wrong.

Ny should lay down a synthetic then we wouldnt have to worry about horses being eased and not handling the slop, or the jockeys crying. They could be eased and vanned like horses have been the last 3 days on the "Mad Genius" surface out in Northern Cal.

Did you see Victor Espinoza's myspace? LOL!!

Edit: It really explains what happens when you give jockeys too much power. Look at his pics!! It's ****in' ridiculous!!

This is excuse doesn't work. They willingly accepted a job where this is a precondition.

Unsound horses should not be in a race, regardless of surface.

Are you the guy who makes fortune cookies? WTF, dude?

So do pilots but they still shut down flights when the conditions dictate. Not defending them in all cases, just saying the fact that you risk your life in your job doesn't mean you have to extend that risk in all circumstances.

The tracks should throw them out. Churchill did. The starving pinheads are being manipulated by the rich ones. Throw the rich ones out.

I've eased myself up at work today. Can I go home?

:D

I'm wearing 2 aluminum pads at work today and their making me stay.

Since you fancy yourself an expert on race riding, given your size, you should be able to make a ton of money doing it.

Great response.

I don't see the analogy.

The problem is that this group of riders in NY have established themselves as a collective " boys who cried wolf " as they have voted to cancel racing on days that wasn't necessary ( specifically in one instance last year...if not more ). Thus they have no credibility. The bottom line is that racing was never cancelled on sloppy tracks for many years and suddenly the NY riders do it frequently. In my opinion they hold too much power over the many people that have interests in the industry and they take advantage far too often to attempt to hold us hostage.

We still got our looks Andy...which is more than Drugs can say.

If they were salaried workers I could see your argument. The fact though is if they cancel races that day, they don't get paid. The root of the problem is that they are making too much money if they are truly skipping race days when other jockeys who don't have as much money would be willing to ride. I certainly think they are abusing their power and canceling too much but at the same time when they try two races and five horses are eased I don't have a problem with canceling the rest of the card. I think it is the right move in that situation.

I can't disagree with your last point Sniper and in all likelihood they were absolutely right to cancel. It's frustrating from a horseplayer's perspective, not to mention the barns that readied their horses for the races and sent them to the detention barn, and it just seems like the jockeys sometimes don't look at the entire picture. Yesterday, however, was probably not one of those cases overall.

The jockeys would have been better off not having Johnny V as their spokesman in this particular situation as he didn't even ride in the first two races.

Yeah, not a good choice of spokesperson. I also think in some of these situations they should let the prima donna jocks take the day off and let the ones who want to ride do so. I get a feeling a lot of the time the top jocks who can afford to take the day off are leaning on the lesser jocks to side with them in canceling the card.

It should be each jockeys individual decision and if you don't have enough jockeys left then you cancel the card.

I pretty much agree with all that.

maybe the should duild a dome over the track.. Indoor racing would cure the problem

Any clue of how much that costs? :eek:

Can you imagine how bad that place would smell?

We have covered arenas in jumping (the smell isn't that awful, but it's not completely enclosed), but it's no where near that size... I can't imagine how much money that would entail to enclose that sort of acreage. Racing certainly doesn't generate the kind of cash flow that it would take to do that IMO.

When the races are called off its by majority vote in the jocks room , so if there are 20 jocks riding that day and all but two vote to cancel well the two that voted to ride are overruled. Johnny V is just the guy who relays the message , he is not the one who decides for the whole room.

phiberto leon can be at aq in 2.5 hours.. to fill any mount...:eek:

Definitely cancel then.

Filly can ride with the best of them.

I don't care either way whether they cancel or not. It seems as time goes on they are more apt to cancel this day and age. What does surprise me is even though we have pages and pages on this forum dedicated to horses that have broken down or expired well before their time, there are people who question the closing of a track due to unsafe conditions. You can't have it both ways.

Yes, and if you don't think the less experienced guys are often bullied by the " names " then I have a bridge I want to sell you.

That best not be the "Brooklyn" Bridge, because I BOUGHT that one many years ago. It's mine, and if you try to sell it, you'll be hearing from my attorney, A Chaser & Ass.:D

I see what you are saying but that really isnt how it goes , its done by vote a raise of hands , and what it comes down to is that the two can choose to ride but who is going to ride the other 8 to ten horses in the race?

We'll have to agree to disagree.