Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Making Harness Bettable Again by Enforcing Simple Rules

There's an election going on in the States, and one of the big issues is crime. 

I wonder if the usual plays out - one party is too cold, but the other one is too hot and suddenly we see people in jail for 20 for stealing a pack of gum three times. The pendulum often swings too far, in both directions. 

Over in harness racing, we see about the same thing when it comes to enforcing the rules on the books. 

On one side of the border we have the Meadowlands, which (rightly!) worked hard on the racing rules to enforce the closing of holes. However, like the three strikes and you're out folks, it looks like this has gone too far. Holes should be allowed for the free flow of racing, and to be used for cover, or to get a horse out of the way so you can pull first over, not simply closed just because every hole has to. 

Meanwhile in Canada, Woodbine Entertainments Bagdad Bob-Sgt Shultz routine of "There is no problem, and I see nothing" is the other end of the spectrum. 

The hole giving at Mohawk has been almost comical; a Monty Python skit, with horses. 

Just this past week or so I saw a driver want to give a leading driver a hole so badly, he choked the horse down. On another occasion, a non-regular was completely screwed when another driver leaned so far back to give the leading driver (with ironically a horse who was awful and backed into him) a hole, the race looked like some sort of pig wrestling competition. 

At the Meadowlands things are too hot, at Mohawk things are too cold. That's probably too soft, things at Mohawk are positively glacial. 

People might say that Ontario has slots, so who cares. Maybe they're right. Just sign the checks and don't worry about how badly the product has degraded.  

But for those who actually want to gamble on it - I hear these strange beings are called "customers" - we might want to do something about it, no?

Have a nice Tuesday everyone. 


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