If I recollect correctly, until recent years (when there has been such a premium placed on field size), the 5F races at Saratoga were limited to eight starters, and 5.5F races were limited to 10 starters. My sense is the prior limitations were for safety and fairness reasons (much like when 8.5F races on the inner turf at Belmont were limited to eight starters).
Limiting field size in 6F and 7F races at Saratoga doesn't make much sense to me.
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