Reply With QuoteHi Jeroen,
My opinion is that sprint lanes are unnecessary on big tracks like Albion Park and far too much of an advantage on smaller tracks like Gloucester Park - if it had one.
Every winner on Saturday night was a leader or a sprint lane horse.
This is straight after a fresh track resurface.
Issues:-
1. Reduced number of chances each race (counter intuitive??)
2. Reduced appeal for participants (why be dished out with such an unfair handicap??)
3. Reduced spectacle which is harness racing - the tactical battle, the joy of winning when the driver in front rated the horse perfectly, the honest battle for the lead
4. Stereotyped horse that can earn e.g. runners must have gate speed
5. Adverse impact on breeding (due to point 4 - easier to buy NZ horse that suits perfectly)
This battle is unfortunately impossible to win but I still share my frustration.
Hi Jeroen,
My opinion is that sprint lanes are unnecessary on big tracks like Albion Park and far too much of an advantage on smaller tracks like Gloucester Park - if it had one.
Last edited by Mighty Atom; 04-21-2013 at 03:10 PM. Reason: added words
Have never seen the need myself.
Do the gallops ever have sprint lanes?
Yes, they have used cutaways in the past.Originally Posted by Grinder
Pretty sure they have cutaways in WA gallops and also at Wyong...please correct me if not. There are plenty of horses trailing leaders at AP that can't take advantage of the sprint lane either Jeroen, because they either just are not good enough or cannot get their momentum up in time. Have you noticed that those horses that do win using the lane are really only asserting their superiority late in their race. There are backers on both sides of the argument. I thought when introduced that it would shut up the knockers of the sport who would bag how easy it was to lock up a horse if they were dead. I think in that regard, more often than not, that the horse that looked to be full of running behind the leader, when presented with the lane has proven not to be the case.
I would be one of the few on this forum that thinks a sprint lane would be an asset to Menangle. A while back when the debate was raging, the club produced some surprising figures in relation to the trailing horses ability to obtain a clear run and have an opportunity to improve its position. From memory, over the period they sampled they said something like only 4 horses did not get an opportunity. I was astounded. The ones that stick in my mind are when the trailer goes for the half a run and gets chopped down or where the leader drifts all over the shop in an attempt to hold the advantage. Don't matter what I say, there will never be a sprint lane there.
Look at Melton where there is a struck match between all the M1 -M2 horses, they go around like a herd of sheep trying to stay warm, the sprint lane presents and they go over the line so close together you would think there was a lion waiting to pounce on the one that strayed from the herd.
Like Rod said about Gloucester, a sprint lane would be too much of an advantage. They don't have one and the three wide line kicks in early and ensures there is genuine tempo and some pretty exciting racing like it used to be...a war of attrition.
That old sprintlane chestnut just keeps popping up though...
Purely from the hobbyist point of view I would be a fan of sprint lanes if there was a better & fairer barrier draw system..!!!
And that barrier draw system would be.
Surely in this day & age with todays technology there is a better system than the RBD
My observation is that when any state tries to handicap through barrier draws the participants don't like it.
With all due respect Ray, handicaping through barrier draws has been going on since Adam was a boy ( I think that's when we started pandering to the commercial breeders a little too much).
in other words, shortly after the advent of majority mobile starts, I think that would be around mid eighties...some brainwave came up with the idea of "handicapping through barrier draws" in mobile starts as they had been previously able to do so via distance in stands.
there remains an inherent problem which I think many participants would agree with, the current ( NSW anyway) PBD system assumes 1 is the best draw and 10 is the worst regardless of which track you are on and which distance you are racing over, which is VERY far from actuals in many cases.
Some ( thats probably many) are gunna groan when I say ,once again,.......the fairest sytem we had for handicapping was standing start racing with distance based handicaps, the move to mostly mobile racing has proven an abject failure in my opinion....when the naysayers come out in the droves to defend mobile racing, take note of who they are,what shape their involvement is in this game and how long they've been around.
Mostly mobile racing has been ONE of the factors which has made our racing product more difficult to sell.
Cheers,
Dan
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