🏇🏇🏇venue 2/17 🩷 Fair Grounds ❣️

[JolyB]

I didn't expect to get 5 stanzas of poetry when I asked a serious question about the point at which more races are simply more races, not more fun or a more competitive contest. It isn't a question of being too hard, but of passing the point of diminishing returns, where players who try to seriously analyze races find that the preparation uses up more time than is available or scorers find that the extra 3 or 4 races makes scoring just that much more of a burden.

As to the challenge of handicapping maiden races, I would agree only if you have a bunch of first time starters. Many other maiden races tend to be relatively formful, as you can project continued improvement of those who have shown promise in their debut races and should benefit from the additional experience or in maiden claimers, those who are dropping in class and will benefit from facing weaker competition.

Actually, you probably get to choose the venue more often than many other players. But, you've made the choice so, as Ernie Banks never used to say, "Let's play 14."