Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Cannon Shell
Simple. First horse off eligible list get place of first horse scratched. Why would they do it any other way?
|
This is how "reserves" get placed in every other racing country. If a horse scratches and there is a reserve (AE) he goes into the gate that the scratched horse is vacating. No changing the entire field's start position. It also means that more AE's actually run.
Think about how many times AE's don't run even when scratches make it possible. Why? Trainers don't want to run if they have to go from post 12. Better to wait. If the scratch was from post 3, they still get "outside." In Europe, Dubai and Asia, they get the empty stall.
With advance wagering you'd still have to "close the race" before betting opened the day before. You can't open the betting before the field is set. Because of the advance betting, if you had 2 scratches on Saturday morning you would still only have 18 go and the AE's wouldn't be able to get in.