Gate Helping Outside Horses At The Meadows
In February, the Meadows introduced a new starting gate with a deeper slant to allow horses drawn outside
to be closer to the gate at the start than those posted inside.
The goal was to mitigate the disadvantages of an unfavourable draw, thereby creating more exciting racing for fans and a more level playing field for horsemen.
Early returns indicate that the plan is working.
Trough the year’s first 312 races, which featured the old gate, horses from Posts 6 through 9 collectively won roughly 24 percent of the races. With the new gate, those same post positions produced more than 31 percent of the winners through the initial 306 races.
The biggest gainer was Post 7, which saw its win percentage jump from 4.7 to 10.1. Taking the biggest hits were Post 5 (18.9 percent to 15.7 percent) and 1 (14.7 percent to 11.1 percent).
The results also include an anomaly: the winning percentage for Post 3, rather than showing a decline, improved from 13.1 to 15.0. That’s a useful reminder that post position is only one of many factors that influences the outcome of any race.
“Clearly these finding are unscientific, but they do suggest that our new gate is having the desired effect,” said David Wiegmann, acting general manager for The Meadows. “We want to provide our fans with the most enjoyable, competitive product, and the new gate is helping us achieve that goal.”
Manufactured by Howard Starting Gate Co. to the same specifications as the gate used at Harrah’s Chester, the new unit features a 14-foot slant that enables a horse with Post 9 to be as much as 14 feet closer to the gate at the start than a horse leaving from Post 1.
(The Meadows)
I think this type of
I think this type of starting gate should be used everywhere. The outside horses on a traditional gate race more than a mile. This new gate makes it more fair and certainly more exciting. Getting the outside post on a half mile track is almost a certain loss before the race even starts.
In track and field, runners don't line up side by side in short races that go around a couple of turns. There is a staggered start so all runners race the same distance. The same logic makes sense for harness racing.
I won't debate if the new
I won't debate if the new starting gate is good/bad/or indifferent. However it certainly should lead to asteriks for any records earned by horses in the future behind such revised starting gates!!