Venue thoughts for May 17

[JolyB]

One of the great things about winning the points contest before a triple crown weekend is that you don't have to choose the venue - we will be going to Pimlico for the Preakness and I have nothing to say about it.

However, I would like to share a couple of thoughts about how much of the card we ought to play for our points contest. In order to cash in on their one big day of racing for the year (well, the Black Eyed Susan day on Friday might count as another), Pimlico has carded 14 races, with lots of time in between each race. Post time for their first race will be 10:30 AM, the Preakness goes off at 7:01 PM and the final race for Arabians is scheduled to go to post at 7:43 PM as the shadows lengthen. The lines at the ATM machines will be very long.

I'd like to have a somewhat shorter lineup for our contest. I think that a contest card that begins at 12:16 PM with race 4 (the Maryland Sprint) and ends with the Preakness (race 13) could make for a very good day of racing. That would include all 9 of the stakes races for thoroughbreds.

I'd love to hear from all of you about your thoughts on including race 14. It is a Grade 1 race with a purse of $200,000; however, it is carded for Arabians. I don't think many of us actively follow the Arabian circuit, so we probably don't know much about any of the horses or trainers. They are very difficult for a neophyte to handicap but very beautiful to watch. How do we feel about ending our card with this race or concluding with the Preakness?

Please give me your reactions to these thoughts, and I'll post the threads based on what I can learn from everyone's reactions.