How is it possible...

[Holland Hacker]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

So, in your opinion, RUNNING LESS than the competition makes a horse great?

When did I say she "ran less"? I said she galloped along for 7 1/2 furlongs and than ran the final 3/16ths after splitting horses in the stretch. And yes if a horse is able to as you say "RUN LESS" and still win the race it makes them better than the competition. Whether it makes them great or not I don't know, but apparently it is your OPINION that it doesn't.

For the record who does qualify as a great horse? Apparently I need and education and hopefully you and BTW can teach me something.

Please limit the list to active horses.

Thanks in advance for sharing your brilliance.

[sumitas]

Does anyone know if synthetic offers this exciting change of surface conditions from race to race that dirt does ? I realize these unexpected variables in dirt track conditions appeal to the sophisticated dirt officiandos so I wonder if synthetic offers the same type of unpredictable challenge in the middle of a card ?

[blackthroatedwind]

2942.....and still going.

[sumitas]

Saratoga track maintenace are experts at turning the last several hundred yards of the stretch into a quicksand like surface. Several years ago, on opening day, they rolled out that technique, only to have it miraculously groomed away for the feature.

They must be doing that surface prep on purpose because I can't imagine they don't have a tight grip on how to maintain that surface.

Maybe Whirlaway knew how to run at the Spa. Outer rail. Here's a nice read on our late, great, and beloved swashbuckler, "Mt Longtail". The only horse ever to win the triple crown and Travers. It reminds one somewhat of horse racing's current, flamboyant star, Evening Attire.

http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/stati...ical_cameos_13

As a footnote, Affirmed briefly matched Whirlaway's triple crown - Travers record. Until one of the most famous DQs in horse racing history placed him 2nd to his arch rival Alydar in the Travers. That was their last clash.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by DaHoss9698

Kill yourself.....soon

OOOOOOOOO

[cmorioles]

Just for the record, there was a very similar track speed change late in the card on Sunday as well.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

If you are talking about after race 7 - you'd only be cutting one race loose

[philcski]

Originally Posted by sumitas

Does anyone know if synthetic offers this exciting change of surface conditions from race to race that dirt does ? I realize these unexpected variables in dirt track conditions appeal to the sophisticated dirt officiandos so I wonder if synthetic offers the same type of unpredictable challenge in the middle of a card ?

Ever watch Del Mar?

[Cannon Shell]

Not to change the subject, well I guess it is now the subject but i thought that the wording of point made in the NTRA paper that Paulick published today was very troublesome. I will link it in a minute.

[Cannon Shell]

http://www.paulickreport.com/wp-cont...bhscn00022.pdf

Under the heading of Injury reporting and prevention
1. Racing Surfaces
a. Benchmark safety of all surfaces and/or mandatory switch to syntheitc surfaces

I dont want to go through the paper on a point by point basis and some of it is positive but are they serious about the racing surface thing? How exactly can you measure the safety of a surface? And when was the consensus reached that synthetic surfaces are signifigantly safer than others? there is no question that a synthetic surface is better under really wet conditions but how many days does that really effect? I am sure that there are other conditions where they are no better or safer. Mandatory anything is always troublesome without absolutes.

I also was amused by the proposed ban on races of more than 14 horses. That has been a real issue in recent times...

[Bravado2112]

On the topic of changing track speeds, here's an interesting presentation by Jerry Brown (Thorograph) from the 2004 Handicappers Expo which essentially states the the speed of racetracks actually change from race to race most of the time because the moisture content of the track only stays consistent if water is added at the same rate that it's evaporating. This is almost impossible as the moisture content is affected by everything from wind, temperature, humidity, sun, track maintanence, how often the water truck comes through etc. Thus, the speed of a fast track with unchanged weather conditions can actually vary quite a bit over the course of an afternoon. It's an interesting presentation for those interested who are figure-oriented.

http://www.thorograph.com/archive/fi...slide_show.ppt

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by sumitas

Does anyone know if synthetic offers this exciting change of surface conditions from race to race that dirt does ? I realize these unexpected variables in dirt track conditions appeal to the sophisticated dirt officiandos so I wonder if synthetic offers the same type of unpredictable challenge in the middle of a card ?

No, synthetic is predictably sucky. You definitely have an angle there.