Racetracks should start measuring wind direction

[The Indomitable DrugS]

The last 8 two-turn dirt route races at Saratoga have all been run on a day when only a single two-turn dirt route was carded.

* Sep 4th: Woodward was lone dirt route

* Sep 3rd: Saratoga Dew was lone dirt route

* Sep 2nd: No dirt routes

* Sep 1st: Regal Ransom alw lone dirt route

* Aug 30th: National Pride alw lone dirt route

* Aug 29th: Personal Ensign was lone dirt route

* Aug 28th: Travers was lone dirt route

* Aug 27th: Pleasant Colony was lone dirt route

* Aug 26th: El Real Madrd wins lone dirt route


The Ragozin Sheets and Thoro-Graph say they pay people to get wind direction measurements at almost every track ... I think it's time tracks start doing that.

If you watch the opening to the Saratoga replay show on MSG+ yesterday - it starts with a "weather report" that says 'Forecast: Cloudy' and 'Tempature: Mid 70's' ... who the hell cares about what the sky looks like and what the tempature was? That's totally worthless information. The wind impacts both fractional clockings and final time. An effort should be made for it to be accounted for. And when it's displayed for the public - it should be displayed in terms of "stretch headwind" - "stretch tail-wind" "crosswind with horses on far turn" or "crosswind against horses on far turn" at the given MPH .. instead of being displayed as 'Winds out of the Northwest at 12MPH'

This is not such a big deal when you have multiple races on the same surface carded because you'll see the impact the wind has in your variant and you can adjust for it. But when you only have one stand-alone race .. it's big.

Look at the Woodward yesterday. The raw pace was 102 and the raw final was 94. Obviously anyone who's paid attention to this meet knows that the track has been slower than par day in and day out all meet long. But, initally I thought the Woodward pace was pretty damn quick. It was a +8 despite a runaway winner - you had longshot 3rd place finisher Tranquil Manner close from 16 lengths back after a half mile - to finish 3rd while making up 10+ lengths late and appearing to pass everything collapsing behind the winner.

This is what Pletcher said after the race...

“The final time I think was reflective of the racetrack,” Pletcher said. “When you see a race like the Forego go in 1:22-and-change [for seven furlongs] to me it’s playing in a one-turn race at least a full second slower, you got to anticipate it’s going to be even more than that in a two-turn race; pretty strong headwind down the lane if you look at the flags.”

If what he said is true .. than obviously the pace was aided by the wind to appear faster than it really was in relation to the final time. This means that Tranquil Manner was not sucking up quite as much as I thought. It means that Mine That Bird's fade wasn't quite as excusable as I first thought because he was rushed into a pace that was more average than real quick. Now, if they card another two-turn dirt route or two yesterday ... the variant likely picks up the wind and you can adjust for it.