Horse racing in the USA has taken yet another step in its seemingly inevitable decline with NYRA's decision to introduce a third dark day to its racing calendar on the Aqueduct winter meeting ... effective immediately.
No more Wednesdays at the Big A until they return to the main track in mid-March, with the exception of Wed 13 Feb (in which case Thursday the 14th will be dark)
This decision is being presented as an "equine safety measure". I can't, for the life of me, see how one less race day per week is going to improve safety. I think the real reason has probably got more to do with the paltry size of the fields they are currently getting.
It's a sad state of affairs when America's greatest city can only sustain 4 days of racing per week, especially with most of the neighboring states closed for the winter.
I totally agree, it's a sad state of affairs but not for the reasons stated.
They are now running short fields in NY, in Maryland, in PA, in CA, and just about everywhere else. Even the "bigger" fields in FL and LA are suspect as many of the runners are entered for show given their p1ss poor PP lines and price on the board.
Short fields is a huge issue, but it has nothing to do with track safety. It has everything to do with the authorities being unable to do anything about the sh1t the likes of Rudy Rodriquez, David Jacobson, Mike Maker, Jamie Ness, Jason Servis and many others chemists who transform virtual cripples into world beaters first off the claim, only for the runner to disappear from the face of the earth a few starts later. I mean Dick Dutrow is still out there stealing money from the public and he is under a 10-year suspension FFS, hiding behind an army of lawyers.
Sad state of affairs indeed.
I totally agree, it's a sad state of affairs but not for the reasons stated.They are now running short fields in NY, in Maryland, in PA, in CA, and just about everywhere else. Even the "bigger" fields in FL and LA are suspect as many of the runners a