[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Not me. I haven't picked a winner at Belmont in about a month.

NYRA used to run turf sprints and about 20 years ago these pretty much came to a halt save a few for 2YOs starting in July. I constantly harangued Mike Lakow about this, to the point where when he would card one or two a meet he would make a point of saying it was his gift to me, but my hopes were for one a week perhaps, and not two or three a day. Be careful what you wish for.

PJ Campo ( the racing secretary ) asked me how I felt about the turf sprints when I saw him at the Preakness. Now obviously he knew I had been asking for them for years as he used to work with Mike, but I told him there were simply too many. He said the problem was that once he started carding them trainers were basically asking for them for every division. I also suggested that he should run more then at 7F, and less at 6F, because at least the milers would have a fairer chance at 7, and speed would perhaps be less of an advantage.....in other words it would make for a fairer race. He said there would be more 7Fs in the next book and I think that seems to be the case. Of course, many races in the book aren't run, and perhaps there is a greater demand among the horsemen for 6F. However, a balance between what the horsemen want and what the public wants needs to be achieved.

Being a racing secretary is a thankless job, and I think all things considered PJ has done a remarkably good job, and the last thing I would do would be to criticize someone for trying to be creative. The upside of more turf sprints is that we get to build a database, so to speak, of horses' performances in these races, and over time they should become easier to decipher. Another thing that is worth noting is these races have increased field size. No, I'm not thrilled by them, but right now I'm not thrilled by much of anything, and it's important to look at as much of the picture as you can before criticizing these races out of hand.

Large, competitive fields, that's all I ask for, I don't care if they are running 5f or 12f on the dirt, grass or artificial surfaces.