APG Heats

[triplev123]

G'day Breno,
Try as a might I can't follow that line of thinking. How can it possibly be said to be fairer overall than a system where you take your chances & let the chips fall where they may...i.e a random drawing of Heats from the overall pool of horses nominated and then a random draw for Barriers in each Heat from there?
If three or four of the topliners happen to draw into the one Heat then that's racing. You take your lumps. The way things are at present, the seeding produces a playing field that is less than level, it serves to further stack the game in favour of those horses already regarded as better/the best.
The Futurity aspects of it particularly bugs the Hell out of me.
Why should anyone who pays up for any futurity event conducted under that sort of a system automatically go in with effectively what amounts to a handicap? Total pool of noms- randomly drawn into Heats then random draw for Barriers. That is fair because that is a system that relies on nothing else but luck/good fortune. Anything else, at least to my way of thinking, is simply not fair.

[aussiebreno]

G'day Breno,
Try as a might I can't follow that line of thinking. How can it possibly be said to be fairer overall than a system where you take your chances & let the chips fall where they may...i.e a random drawing of Heats from the overall pool of horses nominated and then a random draw for Barriers in each Heat from there?
If three or four of the topliners happen to draw into the one Heat then that's racing. You take your lumps. The way things are at present, the seeding produces a playing field that is less than level, it serves to further stack the game in favour of those horses already regarded as better/the best.
The Futurity aspects of it particularly bugs the Hell out of me.
Why should anyone who pays up for any futurity event conducted under that sort of a system automatically go in with effectively what amounts to a handicap? Total pool of noms- randomly drawn into Heats then random draw for Barriers. That is fair because that is a system that relies on nothing else but luck/good fortune. Anything else, at least to my way of thinking, is simply not fair.

Its a bit like tennis grand slams. Its hardly fair for Federer to meet Nadal in Rd 1 while Djokovic meets an unseeded wildcard; then in another game seed 128 takes on seed 256.
What about a match race series at Menangle. It would seem odd in Round 1 for Themightyquinn to meet Smoken Up if in another heat Lady Lexus was coming up against Holy Camp Boy.

I think its a no-win situation as I also see your point. At the end of the day if you are good enough (and well mannered) you should get to the final 9 times out of 10 no matter the system.

Its better than thoroughbreds big races eg Magic Millions, Blue Diamond, Golden Slipper where the lesser likes don't even get the chance to win their way through in heats; they just get balloted out straight away.

[Maorisidol]

Quite right with the tennis analogy Breno.
I look at the seeding scenario this way.
There is always a pretty good idea of the top 10 seeds, who as Breno says will most of the time make the Final. All 40 odd different owners know who they are, but all 40 are still wishing/hoping their horse who may be "seeded" in the bottom 20, may make the final.
So,
If the first heats are randomly released and 3 out of the series top guns fall into 1 heat, how disappointed are the owners of the other 7 horses in that heat? They may finish 5th and not qualify to go further, while other horses of similar ability in the "weak heat" scrape thru and earn more money! Hence, I feel it's more unfair for the midrange horses in a random selection process rather than seeded like tennis.
Also if Federer didn't get to as many finals because he got put out by Raffa in the first or second round the final wouldn't be the blockbuster it could/should be.
This applies to creating a buzz for trots fans by the top 5 seeds dueling in the final. This equates to more attendance to Breeders days and similar carnivals.

[aussiebreno]

The Dizzy Rascal drive by Seijka shows how ordinary a driver she really is. If only I was a pretty blonde who had a stable full of winners to drive every week I could drive 100 wins in a season as well

[aussiebreno]

Credit where credit is due Seijka was able to get on the back of Mr Nickel and gave Medal of Honour every chance despite the result; hard from the draw and back there.