New track rule at Yonkers yet to make an impression

Despite best intentions, the new track requirement of second quarters faster than 30 seconds may be short-lived.

by Brett Sturman

It could be premature to assess the new 30-second rule at Yonkers based on just one week of racing, but at the same time initial returns show that the rule is yet to show any effect for which it was intended.

The rule issued by the track (as previously discussed here), went into effect this past Monday (Jan. 19). The rule stated that the second-quarter fraction in each race must be faster than 30 seconds. If not, there would be driver penalties for each occurrence, beginning with warnings, then fines and eventually increasing numbers of suspension days.

For the five racing days conducted at Yonkers from Monday (Jan. 19) through Friday (Jan. 23) of this past week, here are the numbers: Of the 49 races, 28 of those were won by horses leading at the half-mile. All but two of those were also leading at the quarter call, making it 26 out of 49 wire-to-wire winners. With seven winning horses being second at the half-mile and another 10 horses being third at that same half-mile juncture, 46 out of 49 winners this week were no worse than third at the half-mile. Of the remaining three, two of them came from fourth and a lone winner came from fifth at the half.

Things actually began on Monday with a little more variety than usual where only two of the 10 winners were wire-to-wire, but things devolved steadily through the week and by week’s end it was more of the usual. Between the Thursday and Friday cards, 15 of the 19 winners led at every call.

None of these numbers should come as a surprise, as they’re simply a function of the way the races at Yonkers are run. If a horse is left alone on the lead – which they often are at Yonkers – there’s a greater likelihood they’ll win and it’s as simple as that.

To this point, from Friday’s races there was not a single horse the entire night that raced on the outside at the half-mile call. The horses were single file through nine races that night halfway through the race. Thursday was all single file racing too, except for one horse that showed a parked out symbol at the half-mile, and that was only in fourth at the time. There’s been no one close to or pressing the leader at all until the later business stages of the race – at which points the races have often been decided.

Even if the 30-second quarter was being adhered to, I’d remain highly skeptical about the impact it would have, but it’s not a rule that’s been strictly followed anyway in the first week. Despite advertised penalties, 21 of the 49 races from last week included second quarters of 30 seconds or over. That includes four races of second quarters over 31 seconds. In Friday night’s F&M open pace, which was essentially a $17,500 freebie for Aardie B Miki N, the half-mile was :59.3 with a second quarter of :31.1.

Beyond the preceding example, which there’s no excuse for at that level, the slowest fractions might be attributed to differences in class, gait, wind, amateur races, and other factors, but the rule doesn’t differentiate between those things so neither will this column. Maybe the rule though would be marginally better if it said a NAADA trot race must have a second quarter in less than 30 seconds but that the open pace must go some number faster.

It’s obvious something larger needs to change, but what.

One thought would be to modify the standard purse structure to a more aggressive one. As purely a thought experiment, what would happen if instead of paying out the top five horses as per the usual breakdown, only the winner of the race received 100 per cent of the purse? I’d imagine the races would look dramatically different if they were driven based on an all-or-nothing outcome.

A more realistic option though would be to weigh the payout structure more heavily for the winner as is done with our thoroughbred counterparts. In general, 60 per cent, or sometimes even more, of the purse goes to the winner, 20 per cent to second and downward from there. In that model there is a larger premium put on winning.

If something similar were put into play at Yonkers maybe it would force earlier risks because even if an aggressive leave attempt or an earlier first-over move fails, the end result as far as a minimal purse would be just the same as making no moves at all.

The new rule has only been in effect for five days so more time is needed to see if it will have an impact. But from this initial week of racing with the rule, it’s clear there will need to be a complete adoption of it and then some in order to change the status quo.