Re: B.C. Numbers (500 Views)
Posted by:
miff (IP Logged)
Date: November 07, 2004 09:49AM
There is no doubt that today's racing surfaces have been "slowed" at many tracks for soundness reasons.JB correctly points out that the generation has changed and that horses run faster figs today.
The ABSOLUTE offset to that is that 25 years ago they did not have the legal and illegal drugs and technologys that are now enhancing performances. Let's call the faster surfaces of 25 years ago and the improved legal and illegal drugs/technologys of today a wash.
For all those who did not see Big Red or Dr. Fager, let me say that IMO the Mineshaft's and Ghost Zapper's of today (fastest figs on record) would have been little competition to those "true" freaks at equal weights.
The numbers today have ground loss factored in which is frequently the firmer racing path and no adjustment is made. A horse running four wide around the turn at Belmont is often running in a much firmer path than the horse on the rail and yet the wide runner gets a better fig.Those wide figs have been highly misleading when trying to establish the true faster runner in a race. I can only imagine that this wide beneficial path situation exist at other tracks also.
miff
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