race writing

Question
QUESTION: The Jan 9th condition book lists 9 races & 3 subs. The races actually published in the DRF do not all match. How does this happen?  Thx

ANSWER: Hi Dash:

Thanks for your question.  Without knowing which track's condition book you are looking at, I can't very well answer your question.  However, my experience tells me that the DRF is incorrect and the the individual track's condition book is correct.  You might want to question the people at DRF as to why they don't match up.

Again thanks for your question and I hope my reply helps.

Jim Johnson

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Jim; I guess my question better stated is; how does the racing secy determine the final official entries list?  Using Jan 9 at Golden Gate, (comparing the cond book to the final entries), they are different.  How does this process wort?  Thx  

Answer

I will try to explain how the condition book works - The condition book is published by the Racing Secretury every two weeks and is usually applicable for two weeks. The book is available to everyone, and can be obtained in the office of the Racing Secretary at the track with a current meet. The Condition Book is the basic Bible for the next two weeks of racing, and a trainer, if his horse is race-ready, will fall upon it eagerly to find out if there is a race perfectly suited to his horse. This is also the day when jockeys' agents filter through the backside, making preliminary deals for their "boys" to ride mounts in the listed races.

The Racing Secretary "writes" the roster of races based on the preponderance or types of horses residing at the track. That is, to the extent that there are "maidens" and "claiming horses" stabled at the track hosting the meet, the Racing Secretary will write an abundance of "Maiden" and "Claiming" races to accommodate them. The Racing Secretary, on the other hand, is sometimes required by state mandate to write an average of one per day for state-bred horses only. The Secretary must also accommodate owners by writing an appropriate number of high-purse and "Stakes" races, so that owners of the relatively few top-class horses available within the bounds of a "circuit" have a chance to make good on their investments.

The Secretary's main role is to painstakingly design races with "a level field" - races, both for the sake of bettors and owners, in which all the horses will be closely competitive.

Theirs is not only an extremely detailed and difficult job, but the Secretaries will be the first to admit that the listed qualifications often seem to present a tangled web. No one - least of all the trainer - should hesitate to contact the Secretary for an explanation of any condition that is even slightly unclear. The Secretary's second main goal is to fill 8-10 races every day: if an owner or trainer hangs back from entering a race because of a confusing condition, and that race fails to fill, the Secretary's job just got several hours harder.

Before looking through the Condition Book, you might want to be certain you are familiar with the correct definitions of terms and titles you'll be seeing.  Normally the average "joe better" is better off just looking at the finished product.

I hope this helps you to better understand how the Racing Secretary puts together races at each track.  As you can see, the DRF only uses what the Racing Secretary publishes for the track. In the case of Golden Gate's condition book for January 9, evidently the Racing Secretary did not come up with enough horses to meet the condition book's requirement and made changes which have not been reflected in the condition book.  You might want to ask the Racing Secretary what happed in this instance.

Thanks again for your question and if you feel that I helped you in your question, please give me a rating.