tha lava man thread....

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I think it's a number of reasons. First, everyone knows but hates to admit that there is a media bias towards the East Coast. There are far more major media markets on the East and the majority of the population of our country lives east of the Mississippi. Nine times out of 10, if u have a horse that wins the Suburban, Whitney, and JCGC vs. a horse that wins the SA Hcp, Hollywood Gold Cup, and Pacific Classic, the Eastern one will be considered the better horse. That's just the way it is. A Vosburgh winner will be considered better than an Ancient Title winner. A Turf Classic winner will be considered better than an Oak Tree Invitational winner. The list could go on and on.

Second is that there is a different tempo to the racing out here in California than there is back east. Out here, if u don't have speed, u can forget it. It's the name of the game here. U can run in Florida or NY and have 23, 47 speed in routes and be a lone front runner. U bring that out here and u will find yourself with plenty of company on the lead at best and at worst, five lengths back. I don't think that many trainers or horses are prepared for the faster tempo of racing here and they get caught with their pants down.

Third, as BTW alluded to, is the prestige of the races. Many of those big NY races are 100 years old or so and they have far more prestige in them than the races out here. There is more prestige to winning a race at Saratoga than anywhere else in the country. Ask 100 owners would they rather win the $1 million Delaware Hcp or the Go for Wand at Saratoga worth less than half of that amount and I'd bet u would get at least 80% in favor of the GfW. If the choice is between the GfW and the Hirsch at Del Mar, it might be 90% in favor of the GfW.

All points very well taken. I talked to a trainer friend of mine about this very thing this morning; he said, really, it isn't about East vs. West as much as it's just planning races for a (good) horse based on a circuit. Good trainers don't think their good horses need to take their tracks with them, but that aside, if someone is based in, say, New York it just makes much more sense to plan a campaign around where he normally runs. The same thing applies to California-based horses. And there is a strong Eastern bias when it comes to the Eclipses, but that's just geography.

I will say, however, that my future Hall of Fame trainer friend (and former classmate) did say the level of competition out here is a big factor in determining whether or not to ship. His point was why ship all the way across the country and know you're going to have to beat extremely tough California horses when you can stay home? Tracks have nothing to do with it, he said, and if anything the polytrack is now an added incentive to come out here and roll the dice. I think I'll take his word on it.