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Old 08-08-2011, 12:54 AM
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DaTruth DaTruth is offline
Churchill Downs
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Louisiana
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NTamm1215 View Post
Fair Grounds actually does not use it anymore because of the horrible camera angle. That's why they started doing 1 mile and 70 yard races this meet.
The reasons that Fair Grounds gave for offering dirt mile races beginning in 1991 were to accommodate bigger fields since the mile 40 yard races were limited to 10 runners, to have a race finish closer to the clubhouse, and to make the Lecomte and the newly minted Tiffany Lass relevant preps. The track fire in 1993 eliminated the clubhouse reason. Some horsemen liked being able to send their 3yos around two turns with a 3/16 mile stretch, but the distance change didn't have quite the impact that Fair Grounds was hoping for the Lecomte and Tiffany Lass. Finally, as you pointed out, the new mile 70 yards distance offered the best of both worlds: full fields and the quarter mile stretch.
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Still trying to outsmart me, aren't you, mule-skinner? You want me to think that you don't want me to go down there, but the subtle truth is you really don't want me to go down there!
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