Not all tracks manage times. NYRA, for example, publishes their times and goes on with it unless there is some weather. With the premiere meet in the country, they can do as they see fit... their starting time is well known, their typical pattern is also well known and tracks should adjust accordingly.
When they released their times for this summer, there were at least 8 different sets to accomodate the big days, NBC/Versus, sunset, steeplechase etc. It took me forever, but I went day-by-day to move our races at LAD to avoid theirs as much as possible.
There are a series of tracks who pay absolutely no attention to them, or simply don't understand they make a difference, and many racetrack execs who refuse to believe they play a role. Joke's on them.
The times I put in our track program are nothing more than window dressing. Yesterday we ended 2 minutes beyond the published time... the day before we finished 11 minutes before. If we're 12 minutes behind Saratoga, and they have an inquiry (and it's not too hot), I'll ask the stewards to have the horses take a minute on the track.
It's a constantly evolving process. The "best" post time management by far comes from Tampa, who are okay with making drastic adjustments to find the optimal times. Their success is not a mistake.
|