Fair Grounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Definately a pick 3 haven. I love the pick 3's there. I also love the LA Bred races for some reason. They always seem to be so evenly matched.

Seems like every opening day at Fairgrounds a few bombs come in. This year should be no different.

Originally Posted by eurobounce

Definately a pick 3 haven. I love the pick 3's there. I also love the LA Bred races for some reason. They always seem to be so evenly matched.

Look, anytime you put up ridiculously high purses for any state breds, guys are gonna be trying like hell to win.
The La-bred purses in MSW's this year appear to be 42,500 bucks.
This means the winning owner gets 60% of that with a winning horse, which is 25,500 bucks!!!!! Even after he pays the jock and trainer there 10% of that, which is 2550 to each, the owner still clears 20,400 bucks. The 2550 to the owner and jockey ain't too shabby either.
Higher purses are great for the bettor even if don't most realize it. The more money the players are going after, the harder they try.
So many players are leery of chicanery, and rightly so. But when you give the players more incentive to try and get paid by winning, you eliminate many facets of chicanery.
Chicanery most often stems(lets take harness races as an example) from the players having more incetive to cash a bet than take what they can rightfully earn.
If you are a jock or trainer or owner and looking at a big payday for winning a race, you don't care about cashing a bet, you just wanna win the damn race.
Opening day purses at the FG are 352,000 total, which is an average of 35,200 per race.
Anybody wanna bet that Gulf's opening day average purse per race is less?

You are exactly correct and I agree 100%. Oracle you may remember this but whatever happened to that one harness race (I believe it was harness) where a $100 horse and another mid-long shot horse came in 1-2 and the exacta paid like $30. I think it happend like 2 - 3 months ago and someone posted it on this board. Do you remember reading something like that?

[jpops757]

Originally Posted by oracle80

Look, anytime you put up ridiculously high purses for any state breds, guys are gonna be trying like hell to win.
The La-bred purses in MSW's this year appear to be 42,500 bucks.
This means the winning owner gets 60% of that with a winning horse, which is 25,500 bucks!!!!! Even after he pays the jock and trainer there 10% of that, which is 2550 to each, the owner still clears 20,400 bucks. The 2550 to the owner and jockey ain't too shabby either.
Higher purses are great for the bettor even if don't most realize it. The more money the players are going after, the harder they try.
So many players are leery of chicanery, and rightly so. But when you give the players more incentive to try and get paid by winning, you eliminate many facets of chicanery.
Chicanery most often stems(lets take harness races as an example) from the players having more incetive to cash a bet than take what they can rightfully earn.
If you are a jock or trainer or owner and looking at a big payday for winning a race, you don't care about cashing a bet, you just wanna win the damn race.
Opening day purses at the FG are 352,000 total, which is an average of 35,200 per race.
Anybody wanna bet that Gulf's opening day average purse per race is less?

Is there another track that will offer a 5k st bred maiden and a graded stakes rice in the same card? They offer something for all. The dirt surface has always been praised as a very safe surface. I hope the turf is better than it was when we were last there, a lot of bare spots painted to look like grass.

Originally Posted by jpops757

Is there another track that will offer a 5k st bred maiden and a graded stakes rice in the same card? They offer something for all. The dirt surface has always been praised as a very safe surface. I hope the turf is better than it was when we were last there, a lot of bare spots painted to look like grass.

Every track has to offer claimers, everybody's gotta eat and the owners and trainers who train those horses need sufficient spots with which to race their investment. No argument there from me.
But like you said, FG splices in allowance and grass races and stakes on weekends with these claimers. Their cards are balanced and because they mix up the condition book, you don't get the same exact horses meeting each other every two weeks at the same distance(cough cough cough Gulfstream cough cough).
Its the variety and balance and liberal use of the grass course that makes the place a real treat to follow and bet.

[sumitas]

Pink Duck is prolly retired and headed to stud I hope. The Beter Man Can is a thrill to watch.

[Travis Stone]

Zarb's Dahar, breaking from the outside in the opening day feature, is such a nifty horse. He has his work cut out for him, but that race should be exciting.

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Zarb's Dahar, breaking from the outside in the opening day feature, is such a nifty horse. He has his work cut out for him, but that race should be exciting.

Anything with 'Zarb' in its name is a contender in La-bred races. <grin>

[cal828]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

Anything with 'Zarb' in its name is a contender in La-bred races. <grin>

I think you're right. Wasn't it a horse named Zarb's Magic that won the Arkansas Derby one year, beating the eventual Kentucky Derby winner, Grindstone?