Would the Travers get more entries if Run On Sept 1

Ronnie · #1 09-05-2007, 12:43 PM

I can't believe that you are suggesting that the date of the Travers be moved. How about moving the dates of all the other races? The Travers is the oldest Thoroughbred horse race in the United States.

boswd · #2 09-05-2007, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

I can't believe that you are suggesting that the date of the Travers be moved. How about moving the dates of all the other races? The Travers is the oldest Thoroughbred horse race in the United States.

what would be the incentive for the people at Monmouth. It's already ran at a great time and for the past few years has had better fields than the Travers.

Ronnie · #3 09-05-2007, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

what would be the incentive for the people at Monmouth. It's already ran at a great time and for the past few years has had better fields than the Travers.

What race is that?

boswd · #4 09-05-2007, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

What race is that?

The Haskell

ateamstupid · #5 09-05-2007, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

What race is that?

My guess would be The Haskell.

Ronnie · #6 09-05-2007, 01:06 PM

Bluegrass Cat used the Haskell as a prep for the Travers last year.

SniperSB23 · #7 09-05-2007, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Bluegrass Cat used the Haskell as a prep for the Travers last year.

And Roman Ruler ran in both the year before. Yet each of the past three years the best horse has skipped the Haskell for the Dandy-Travers route.

boswd · #8 09-05-2007, 01:31 PM

I guess we'll have to see what happens next year. I personally think NYRA has to be proactive about the situation. If not change the date of The Travers then I would increase the purse of the Jim Dandy to $750,000 to give these trainers something to think about if they really want the Travers but want that extra week, $750,000 would look very attractive.

Bobby Fischer · #9 09-05-2007, 04:00 PM

Slow travers

Borel says he was just racing to win , not racing the clock...

Danzig · #10 09-05-2007, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Bluegrass Cat used the Haskell as a prep for the Travers last year.

against todds better judgement...owners pushed for that, and a faceoff with bernardini. turned out to be bluegrass cats last race. and no doubt todd felt he was right all along, and didn't want to do this year what he really didn't want to do last year.

i disagree tho that one was a prep for the other. but he ran well in the first, and everyone thought he had a legit shot to test the future 3 yo champ in the second. took him and todd out of their game.

Danzig · #11 09-05-2007, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

I can't believe that you are suggesting that the date of the Travers be moved. How about moving the dates of all the other races? The Travers is the oldest Thoroughbred horse race in the United States.

you will find that many races, including the ky derby and preakness, have had a variety of dates that they've been run over the last 100-odd years. also, think back to the glory days of hialeah for instance... who would have thought back then that there would be no more flamingo stakes? things change.

pointman · #12 09-05-2007, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danzig

you will find that many races, including the ky derby and preakness, have had a variety of dates that they've been run over the last 100-odd years. also, think back to the glory days of hialeah for instance... who would have thought back then that there would be no more flamingo stakes? things change.

You are correct about that, but I see no reason to change the date of the Travers. If it were moved a week later, then it would be too close to the JCGC. Obviously, the BC has changed the landscape for 3YO's. I just can't agree that AGS, and especially Curlin, were ducking SS.

Danzig · #13 09-05-2007, 07:42 PM

pletcher is no dummy, and has made quite a fortune for himself and his owners by properly placing his many horses. he will put them in the best spot for a check, a graded win, and for future deals--that worked perfectly for him and others with any given saturday. call it what you will, or not, but it wouldn't be the first time he ducked a horse. look at the belmont, he didn't duck any one horse, but certainly was NOT going to have one of his horses face off with the top three finishers from the derby. he planned for the haskell, and it paid off nicely for him. had street sense declared from the travers, he may well have waited a week for that rather than go in the haskell. of course that's all speculation.
but i have NO doubt, had street sense skipped the travers (which was a distinct possibility) that he would have had a horse in there.
as for the jcgc, there are other opportunities to face older horses. that race imo isn't as big a deterrent as the haskell as far as getting a good field for the travers.

saratogabrit · #14 09-06-2007, 07:04 AM

The date of the Travers will never be changed to the closing weekend as the number of NYRA staff drops day by day after the Travers as most of the college kids head back to school and a lot of the High School kids take the closing weekend off to have a break before school begins.

I believe the Chamber of Commerce says that capacity in the town is reached only at Travers weekend and is about 130,000 which includes residents' (28,000 population), 38,000 or so at the track-a fair number of whom will be one of the locals and so at least 65,000+ tourists milling around town.

Pedigree Ann · #15 09-06-2007, 07:14 AM

The Travers is at a classic distance, 10f; the Haskell is at a miler distance, 9f. There are a lot of decent milers who can stretch to 9f and win, but very few of the class to stretch out to 10f against top stayers. With the preponderance of miler-breds in the breed today (and potential stallion managers afraid that their stallion will be tabbed a 'plodder' if they win too many longer races). the appeal of a 9f race for the same purse is clear.