Tweet
I have always been an advocate for the Weight Handicap races in D/D mainly because this is the prominent style of racing in Australia. It is good to see D/D give it a test in a couple of days but...
$10 entry fee is too expensive to test a new format. No one knows whether horses in D/D will actually be affected that much by weight. I have horses that have won with 120lbs then fail with 116lbs, same conditions.
Why not use the cheaper Starter Allowances as the testbed for these types of races? Get the interest in the format first, then if there is enough interest, use weight handicaps in Open Class races later?
Why can't apprentices claim? That is the main thrust of using them, when a stable believes their horse has too much weight in a handicap, they trade seasoned jockey experience for the weight allowance. In Australia, I have only seen apprentices unable to claim in Group listed races. Now that D/D seems to have sorted out the "Krutz cloned" apprentice problem, is it time for more apprentices on the jockey roster?
More info is needed on the weight allocation structure.
Norm
$10 entry fee is too expensive to test a new format. No one knows whether horses in D/D will actually be affected that much by weight. I have horses that have won with 120lbs then fail with 116lbs, same conditions.
Why not use the cheaper Starter Allowances as the testbed for these types of races? Get the interest in the format first, then if there is enough interest, use weight handicaps in Open Class races later?
Why can't apprentices claim? That is the main thrust of using them, when a stable believes their horse has too much weight in a handicap, they trade seasoned jockey experience for the weight allowance. In Australia, I have only seen apprentices unable to claim in Group listed races. Now that D/D seems to have sorted out the "Krutz cloned" apprentice problem, is it time for more apprentices on the jockey roster?
More info is needed on the weight allocation structure.
Norm
Comment