Northam at GP TodayHarness & Greyhounds

Chariotsonfire

Interesting meeting with the Northam 7/5 starting format at GP today.

I don't mind the format as it should mean more horses going forward off the front line rather than angling for positions on the back line.

The 7/5 format also allows for more consistency with Bunbury, Northam and Pinjarra all using the format.

aussiebattler

Chariotsonfire said:

Interesting meeting with the Northam 7/5 starting format at GP today.

I don't mind the format as it should mean more horses going forward off the front line rather than angling for positions on the back line.

The 7/5 format also allows for more consistency with Bunbury, Northam and Pinjarra all using the format.

Maybe they should leave it like that ;) 

freodockers

Lang Inwood obviously not happy with the shift to GP, scratched all seven runners, must have been going to miss out on watching the tennis having to leave earlier.

Gilgamesh

Very hard to keep 7front5back formation when you have 7 or less acceptors. 

JayJay

I think when the temp is over 38 or similar, the horse welfare heat policy kicks in and if you are transporting horses in adverse heat conditions, you can scratch without penalty. It was 45 at Northam so if there are lots of scratchings, I think fair enough. Not exactly sure how it works but I think that's the gist of it.

AbbysAce

They tried the 7/5 format for a couple of years, a few years back, didnt work.

Chariotsonfire

AbbysAce said:

They tried the 7/5 format for a couple of years, a few years back, didnt work.

I am not committed either way but turnover was stronger at the time of the 7/5 format.

JayJay

Melton, Bendigo, Ballarat....all bigger tracks than GP and they run 7 off the front row. Bathurst run 8 and Menangle which is a different kettle of fish doesn't do back lines but it is 700m bigger.

Never ever liked the 9 across the front......very rarely do you do anything other than drag back and drive for luck from the Trinity College draw. I know that when you look up the acceptances and see that your horse draws 7,8 or 9, your first thought is "we are driving for luck here or we stay home". I know Vampiro lead from 9 the other night and a few could lead from the other side of the river but that's the exception rather than the rule.

curmudgeon

I would be interested to see how a 7/3 configuration with a field limit of 10 would affect turnover and race tactics in addition to a reduction in race distance to racing primarily at 1700m and possibly 2100m ...especially around the 800m circuits

I think this is probably a necessity in the longer term with consideration to challenges in terms of form, preserving the racing stock and consistent delivery of race vision. 

AbbysAce

Has anyone noticed how slow the mobile goes here in the score up compared with the eastern states?

Another big reason why the inside is heavily advantaged.

Why not increase score up speed and give the outside horses some incentive to go forward.

Plus less horses would gallop or interfere with other horses as there chasing the gate.

And wouldnt cost the industry a cent.

Cant_Refuse

AbbysAce said:

Has anyone noticed how slow the mobile goes here in the score up compared with the eastern states?

Another big reason why the inside is heavily advantaged.

Why not increase score up speed and give the outside horses some incentive to go forward.

Plus less horses would gallop or interfere with other horses as there chasing the gate.

And wouldnt cost the industry a cent.

If they speed up the mobile then the horses out wide will be chasing hard to keep up while the ones on the rail get a relatively easy score up

AbbysAce

Cant_Refuse said:

AbbysAce said:

Has anyone noticed how slow the mobile goes here in the score up compared with the eastern states?

Another big reason why the inside is heavily advantaged.

Why not increase score up speed and give the outside horses some incentive to go forward.

Plus less horses would gallop or interfere with other horses as there chasing the gate.

And wouldnt cost the industry a cent.

If they speed up the mobile then the horses out wide will be chasing hard to keep up while the ones on the rail get a relatively easy score up

Totally disagree, The ones out wide would get on the gate early and they would get a kick off the bend.

Im not saying go 10kms/h faster , try 2

JayJay

10km faster might be too big an ask for those old faded paint utes....not a great look.

freodockers

Well when they paint the mobile maybe they can design an offset barrier that gives the outside runners an advantage at the start (reduced to zero from barrier 1) say 1/2 length for example from barrier 9 or would that be too controversial an idea.

2lifetimewinners

freodockers said:

Well when they paint the mobile maybe they can design an offset barrier that gives the outside runners an advantage at the start (reduced to zero from barrier 1) say 1/2 length for example from barrier 9 or would that be too controversial an idea.

Freo, I think it was Albion Park a few years back trialed that if I remember rightly.