by Trey Nosrac

A few weeks ago, the topics of lag time and the start of our races were on the table. The opinions were thoughtful, earnest, and polite. Trey would like to add his perspective on the start of our races using true anecdotes, followed by a unique solution to the issue that would make the time between races thrilling and gambling on horses more exciting for everyone.

Wagering lag time has never been a problem for Trey. Wagering promptly is one of the few proactive things I do. Stressing about submitting my wager at the last moment is not relaxing. My standard operating procedure is to do my handicapping, often referred to as my wild guesstimates on horse racing, well before the national anthem.

In days of yore, when I attended the races with other humans, as soon as entering the racetrack premises, I walked up to the first available teller, where I wagered five consecutive races in increments of $10. In recent years, when gambling on my iPad, my method has been similar: I fire up the computer or iPad and wager five consecutive races originating from my favorite racetrack.

Pre-wagering is liberating. Who cares what time it is? Who cares about fluctuating odds that are out of our control? What is in my control are the million things I can do until the starting car turns down the far turn and the announcer begins the race call.

Friends, my takeaway, my theme, and my slant on this subject is that when you wager early, you have time to multitask.

When Trey had a stressful job, he was a pioneer in multitasking. The empty grandstands were an oasis. I would follow my prerace wagering format, make my wagers upon entry, stick the tickets in my pocket, and purchase a plate of cheese nachos and a soft drink. I did NOT watch the geese on the infield pond or take a nap. I climbed the cement steps to an isolated nook, sat down, and read a magazine, a book, or listened to my Walkman.

When the announcer got my attention that a race was imminent, I bookmarked my place, double-checked my pre-wagered ticket to see where my wagering interests lay, and watched the race. The tote board or the exact starting time were irrelevant.

Today, while wagering on horse racing at home, we can do more than read The Biography of Oscar Wilde on a wooden folding seat with metal armrests. One of my go-to multitasking activities at home is listening to music on my headphones between races, but you can do almost anything from making chicken soup to building a ship in a bottle when the horse race is not the only part of your program.

Of course, many of you are much more serious about wagering on harness horse racing. You are a professional handicapper who needs to be in the last tick-of-the-clock club, and you believe the final click of the tote board from 7-2 to 9-5 is very consequential. I suggest you climb out of the world and leave that intense handicapping nonsense to computers and artificial intelligence.

Enough chat. Let’s get down to businesses, having fun, and fixing this lag problem.

Imagine you are wagering on a race. The numbers on the tote board show the morning line. The numbers constantly change, the pool grows, and handicapping pundits give you wagering tips – business as usual. The new twist is that approximately 10 minutes before the scheduled post time, beepers and buzzers will beep and buzz in the grandstands, and lights will flicker on the tote boards and your devices.

The bells, buzzers, and flickering lights alert one and all that you are now subject to the gong.

At any time, determined by a complex method of selection controlled by the master of MYST, a loud, resounding GONG will sound. The sound of the gong immediately halts ALL wagering. The gong could sound one minute after the warning or after the scheduled post-time.

Harness racing masters of the racing universe now will use the “ticking time bomb” – a motivational tool in movies and television dramas. This effect can be subtle or cliché, but this narrative technique injects urgency and tension into any storyline, ratchets up suspense, and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. And a ticking bomb without a clock, an ominous, unknown deadline, takes the tension up another notch.

This active wagering situation would be very engaging in our sport. You need to decide what type of wager you wish to play, and you will also need to determine WHEN to wager. Perhaps this would help lag, or perhaps not, that is to be determined. Some people may enjoy being gonged and missing the race. Some people will be apoplectic about missing a potential winning wager. I believe everyone would enjoy the ticking time bomb experience. Not boring! What fun!

Let’s try making all gamblers listen, listen, listen, listen, with itchy trigger fingers, calculating, with hair triggers, hearts pounding. If racetrack management believes this could be wagering suicide, and some of the money will not make it into the wagering pool, relax and take the long view. The grouchy players will moan, but eventually, they will play, and new people may join them if the next gong is only a few exciting seconds away.