Saratoga maiden policy...

[parsixfarms]

With field size limited to eight horses, you can pretty much guarantee that all the 2YO races on dirt will be front-loaded in the card.

[Calzone Lord]

Things are becoming easier at all levels.

Look at some of the trainers at the cheap New York track, Finger Lakes this meet:

James S. Acquilano (82-40-14-10) 49% wins
Chris J. Englehart (122-50-34-11) 41% wins
Jeremiah C. Englehart (81-31-16-14) 38% wins
Charlton Baker (80-28-13-13) 35% wins
James T. Wright (31-10-12-5) 32% wins and 71% in exacta.
Michael S. Ferraro (62-17-12-12) 27% wins


You'll see races where five horses in the same race have different trainers winning at over 30% for the meet.

It's like a capitalism VS communism debate -- but in pro sports -- communism works better.

The Super Bowl winner is punished and has to draft 32nd overall. They have to play the tougher schedule next year. The team with the worst records draft highest and play an easier non conference schedule.

Ever since horse racing has drifted further and further away from handicaps -- it has resulted in softer, easier racing...where the best horses and trainers are no longer devalued by a competitive balance.

Handicaps are a huge part of what made trainers run horses. They were also stiff punishments that would truly devalue dominant horses at all class levels.

A horse like Rapid Redux would have been giving 45lbs away in the old days. A horse like Zenyatta would have had had to carry three bowling balls more in her saddle than she did in those narrow wins over terrible females like Rinterval and Anabaa's Creations. She gave just 4lbs to those horses.

After the 3yo classics, you have very few weight for age events. Horses had to either retire or run ... and defeats were absolutely inevitable and sometimes even welcomed early on by trainers of top horses coming back to keep their imposts under control for the more important races.

A lot of times, the goal was to win by as narrow a margin as comfortably possible and to make it look like the jockey was busier than he was. Sometimes the jockey would even still be selling it after the race. They'd pretend like they can't carry the saddle because it's too heavy and Hollywood it up.

The small-fry trainers with the cheap horses would run the living sh!t out of their horses.

[ateamstupid]

This is a joke, right? The circuit that can't get more than 5-6 horses to run in its Grade 1's is taking steps to limit field size?

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

This is a joke, right? The circuit that can't get more than 5-6 horses to run in its Grade 1's is taking steps to limit field size?

Horseplayers lose again.

I'm sure the minimal amount of handle they will lose will be more than made up for by the Slots Monster.

[hud8118]

from one who watches and studies the 2 year old maiden races looking for future opportunities...this decision will certainly reduce my play...will be fewer horses with trips and those who get them will be more obvious and less hidden, thus reducing their future odds...more horses = better opportunities for trip handicapppers, especially the subtle trips and hidden positive efforts in larger fields...just don't like this decision at all!!!!!!

[parsixfarms]

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.