[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

I have heard this many times and I am trying to see how it can be done. Shave off a few minutes, maybe, but nothing significant. Let's see - say Post time is 2:00; the horses are ready to load. A minute or two to load, or a bit longer if one of them is acting up. The actual race is 1 to two minutes. The gallop out (which is important - they can't just stop dead) and gallop back to weigh in and make the race official is going to be at least a couple of minutes more. Jockeys then walk back to the jocks room, wash off their faces, put on new silks, gets his cleaned up saddle from the valet, goes to the scale, gets the necessary lead, weigh out. Walk back to the walking ring, to consult with the trainer and owners (could cut a few minutes here, perhaps, but some bettors do want to get a look at the way the horses are moving). Get up on the horse, go out to the track and warm the horse up - this is also important - do human athletes race without loosening up their muscles with a warm-up?

The absolute minimum for this routine is on the order of 20 minutes and the practical minimum is probably 25 minutes. Would that help you?

The only way to get races closer together would be to have two sets of jockeys, so that one set would be going out to the track while the other is getting cleaned up from the previous race. I don't know if there are enough good jockeys out there to support this kind of schedule.

I think twenty minutes is fine. I understand that horses have to warm up and jocks have to clean up. People want to dope them out and bet. Just keep things moving. Some places they race every half hour and that's when it gets difficult.