Answers to Some Questions

Yesterday, I posted a link to Bob Marks, excellent column over at DRF Harness about questions he would like to have answers to.  Well, with his permission, here are my responses to his questions; admittedly some answers are  bit cynical.

Regarding why so few horses qualify at Yonkers even though they want to race there and why they are qualifying at the Meadowlands.  No one wants to go over the half mile oval if they don’t have to.  Besides, who wants to deal with the traffic to get to Yonkers if they don’t have to?  My question is, what happened to the rule if you qualify at the Meadowlands, you need to make your first start there?

Why drivers don't question driving in front of near-empty grandstands. They are too busy counting their money to care.

Regarding why can't all tracks agree '0' minutes to post time is post time and coordinate times accordingly.  You mean you want tracks to coordinate and stick to their guns about post time being post time?  Then again, if we can’t agree to this, why should we expect to work together on other issues?

The secret handle and attendance figures. Handle is meaningless.  As for attendance, how depressed do you want people to get?  But why we are at it, we hear about syndicates getting deals to wager directly into track pools.  How much money are they wagering and what do they pay into the purse account?

Why don’t programs list disclaimers for often irrelevant elimination races and preps?  Or don’t we care that good money is often burned on starters seeking to just qualify for the Final?  The practical thing would be to have races for top money earners and a decent purse for a consolation for the next group of horses, but that would be a change from the way we do it so bettors beware.

Why are feature races at the end of the card when many people have cleared out?  In fairness, this is what the runners do and it works for them.  If this was our only problem.

Shouldn't our optimum races be carded when the most people are at the track?  Well, if we raced at post time, this problem could be solved without trying.

Would it be so hard to synchronize post times so that races, especially feature races, don’t overlap each other?  It would seem that if we were ever to have a harness racing channel that would be mandatory.  Yes, it would be mandatory with a harness racing channel.  BTW, wasn’t that supposed to happen?  What happened to that idea?

Why are so many races carded for “winners over $10,000 lifetime” or perhaps “winners over $25,000 lifetime” when theoretically almost every horse on the grounds would fit that condition.  Because racing secretaries don’t have enough horses to write classes, (heaven forbid they go with classified racing again)

Just how does an extended pari-mutuel race differ from a non-extended one assuming there is such a thing?  This is primarily an Ohio issue.  When you win a race at Upper Sandusky, Ohio in a pari-mutuel race, do you really want to consider this the same as winning a race at Scioto Downs?

How come at one track the preferred class is a step-up from the open class while at another track the reverse may be true. I suspect this is more the case of a racing secretary admitting what kind of racing stock he/she has to work with.

Have you ever heard anyone who just lost money betting on a horse race state, “That was fun, maybe I could lose more money next race?”  Only when not sober.

Are thoroughbred trainers permitted to own pieces of horses in barns other than their own?  I dare say not.