Drivers Question Seven-Eighths Experiment

Woodbine Racetrack (From Roof).jpg
Published: December 3, 2008 02:12 pm EST

On Monday, December 1, Woodbine Racetrack hosted its first seven-eighths mile races since a similar trial period in 2005. Bettors and horse people have let their feelings be known via SC web feedback. Now Trot Insider has spoken to some drivers for their opinions.

The move to race overnight and claiming races for Woodbine's Monday cards in December has come because officials are looking to add more early movement to the races. With the start of the race closer to the first turn under the seven-eighths mile format, WEG officials are looking to see improved flow within the middle half-mile of the races. Stakes races on the Mondays continue to be contested at the traditional one-mile distance. After the trial period is over, WEG will be contacting horsemen and bettors for their feedback.

"I know why the people at WEG have made the decision to give this a try, but I'm not really too sure what they are trying to accomplish," said Luc Ouellette, Woodbine Entertainment Group Driver of the Year for 2004 and 2005. "I'm happy that they are trying some new things, but this isn't the answer. It's not going to accomplish what they are looking to do."

Racing shifted back to Woodbine from Mohawk Racetrack in early October. Woodbine has held seven full Monday programs since returning from Mohawk (the card on October 27 was cancelled after four races). The race dates of the cards with the corresponding handles numbers are listed below (note that numbers are not official CPMA information).

• Oct. 13 -- 11 Races -- $1,167,790
• Oct. 20 -- 11 Races -- $1,183,513
• Oct. 27 -- (card cancelled after four races)
• Nov. 3 -- 12 Races -- $1,334,741
• Nov. 10 -- 12 Races -- $1,366,070
• Nov. 17 -- 12 Races -- $1,298,164
• Nov. 24 -- 12 Races -- $1,142,414
• Dec. 1 -- 12 Races -- $1,394,857 (the first card with 7/8ths mile races)

The first night of seven-eighths mile racing, which featured 12 dashes in total, produced a $1,394,857 handle. The four previous 12-race Monday cards at Woodbine produced a high handle of $1,366,070, which took in $28,787 less than the first seven-eighths mile experimental program. The average handle from Woodbine's four previous 12-race Monday cards was $1,277,847.

"As a driver, it is very hard to have a pre-race strategy. If I'm on a favourite and I have Post 7 and there are two good leavers to my inside, I have no idea what I'm going to do heading into the race," explained Ouellette.

"If those horses (with the fast early speed) leave and get the front, I'm probably going to have to use my horse quite a bit to get to the lead through a hot first half -- I run the chance of not having any horse left by the time I get there," Ouellette continued, "but at that point I know that we're only racing seven-eighths of a mile and I'd better keep going, because I know that there will be all sorts of horses coming from the backfield. When it comes down to me handicapping the race from a driver's perspective or the public handicapping the race from a fan's perspective, it's impossible.

"I don't see this experiment as anything to even think of. I don't think the handle for the card will be any better next Monday. As a driver, I'm thinking 'thank god it's only for four Mondays.'"

"The people at Woodbine said that they wanted to get more flow into the races, but I think that the opposite has happened," Sylvain Filion told Trot Insider. "With the way that they have set up the seven-eighths mile racing at Woodbine, you get into the first turn so fast. With the horses rushing to get to the rail, you have to use your horse very hard to get to the lead. The chart doesn't properly indicate how fast the horse is actually going -- you have to put a lot of pressure on the horse in that situation. Those horses that are used so hard early are not going to be pulled out along the backstretch.

"In the end I think it is the bettors and the young horses that get the worst of it."

"I'm in the business of racing horses," said trainer/driver Anthony MacDonald. "At the end of the day, if I have a horse that fits a condition he's going to dropped in the box to race. It doesn't matter if it has to race at seven-eighths of a mile or three miles, he's going to race."

MacDonald takes a rather laissez faire approach to the trial period at Woodbine, but he still feels that the shortened races themselves are not optimal.

"It's their (WEG's) track. I'm there to race and I don't want to rock the boat, but I hope that this whole process is leading to something bigger. I personally think that you either change the track or you change the style of racing, but not the distance," MacDonald explained. If I've got a horse that wins a race at that distance and I then go to sell him, what do I say? He can't take a mark off that race. Do I say, 'well, he won in this time in a seven-eighths mile, so if you rate that at…"

"In terms of this process leading to something bigger, if this leads to the movement of the poles and the finish line, I can understand that. If not, I'm not too sure what they are trying to figure out with this. I don't have all the info in front of me like the people at WEG do, so it's not really fair for me to say."

The flow issues with racing at Woodbine have been discussed within certain racing circles for years now. One of the common solutions voiced with regularity is that standardbreds should be racing on the one-mile thoroughbred track during the winter meet.

"What they should do is find a way to get us on that one-mile track," said Ouellette. "We see the Meadowlands resurface their track all the time. People say that the Woodbine thoroughbred track isn't banked, so therefore we won't be able to race as fast. You just let us on that track and we'll show you something. Give us a chance on it. I think Woodbine would see its handle increase anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent."

Tags
Have something to say about this? Log in or create an account to post a comment.