Post by Knightmare on Nov 10, 2009 22:04:31 GMT -5
I think there will be many of us checking out the board as we lead up to the Bargain Bowl. I think this would also be a good time to talk about things as we head into next year. Warning this is long..lol
Feel free to discuss anything you would like about the series, suggestions, what you might like to see, etc. I am going to throw out a couple of things I am thinking about here and would like feed back on those things.
I think one of the things the series will have to consider are up coming changes in travel. I thought it might be something we would have to tackle this year but Mike has not implemented those changes yet. We know the regions and those apparently will change a bit at the beginning of the year. So this looks like an issue we will have to consider next year. Really it will all depend on how restrictive Mike makes travel between regions.
Bargain Bowl Additions - Well looking at the Breeder's Cup races and looking at the Bargain Bowl races it is time to consider adding a couple of races. I do not think I will split up the juvy races. Fillies have held their own against the colts, so I am not really considering a change with juvy races.
I think though the Dirt Mile would be an excellent addition to the series. There are several prestigious dirt mile races in real life so we could add a Dirt Mile division with a couple of races during the year and a race in the Bargain Bowl. I like this because I think this would be a competitive division, we would have bargains that are good dirt milers.
The Marathon - I like the idea of adding a long distance race, however I do worry that we may not have quality or quantity in this division. At the beginning of the year we had the Lino Challenge, and we had 9 entries, Koko Shan was outstanding earning a 99 speed figure. And he has kept it up during the year, probably would have no doubt dominated this division. I wonder if another race during the year would have produced a 9 horse field?
I am not sure where to go with this division. Should it be all dirt?, Should it be a combo such as a 12f dirt race like the Lino Challenge on dirt, The Wombat at 16f on turf, and then a bargain bowl race at 14f on dirt? I may run this division as an experiment, allowance races instead of stakes during the year to see what happens. I think though I might be leaning toward all dirt here.
Race Distances - Some races in real life are different distances than what we run our races. I like the Derby and Classic at 9.5f instead of 10f, so I am not going to list those here.
Filly and Mare Sprint - 7f Chance for Delta 6f
I am not sure why the Breeders Cup chose 7f for the fillies but they did. Should we leave the Change for Delta at 6f or move it 7f? I am open to suggestion here. I see where it might be interesting to not have the fillies and boys running the same distance.
Juvy turf 8f - Juvy turf 7f
Juvy dirt 8.5f - Juvy Dirt 7f
I am moving the Juvy races out to at least 8f next year maybe 8.5f. I was thinking of having a 6f or 6.5f stakes in August then the Stakes in October like we had this year with the El Joven and Ginger Ale, then the bargain bowl races.
Turf races in general we run at shorter distances than their real life counter parts. My thinking behind the distances for the Cougar Bite and the Vimes Distaff, is that we will draw a bigger, more competitive field at a distance where 12f horses can compete with 9f horses. So the Arc and Cougar Bite at 10f seems to fit or work out ok, although I would like to hear what you guys think. Should we move these to 12f? The Vimes out to 11f or 10.5f instead of 9.5f?
Really right now there is not much difference in turf distances outside the Wombat. So there is not really a long turf division we sort of have a middle distance division and a mile division with a lot of cross over between the two. I like that but maybe we are not doing distance runners justice over all in the series.
Equinics - I have not contacted those that run the Equinics yet, but if interest level is high enough amongst trainers here I may contact them to verify the rules a residency must use to qualify for Equinics. If I think we would not be breaking any rules or have to over haul things around here to get in I think it could be interesting. While we are not a traditional residency we have all the makings of one, we have a website, message board, restricted races, standings, awards but we are different. Not really sure any of our bargains would stand a big chance but might be fun.
Over all I am having a blast with the series. Drives me crazy I cannot get more good bargain runners but I am having fun none the less. The participation level I think is pretty solid in the series, but I would like to maybe attract a few more players to the series. I am open to any ideas on how to possibly do this.
Feel free to discuss anything you would like about the series, suggestions, what you might like to see, etc. I am going to throw out a couple of things I am thinking about here and would like feed back on those things.
I think one of the things the series will have to consider are up coming changes in travel. I thought it might be something we would have to tackle this year but Mike has not implemented those changes yet. We know the regions and those apparently will change a bit at the beginning of the year. So this looks like an issue we will have to consider next year. Really it will all depend on how restrictive Mike makes travel between regions.
Bargain Bowl Additions - Well looking at the Breeder's Cup races and looking at the Bargain Bowl races it is time to consider adding a couple of races. I do not think I will split up the juvy races. Fillies have held their own against the colts, so I am not really considering a change with juvy races.
I think though the Dirt Mile would be an excellent addition to the series. There are several prestigious dirt mile races in real life so we could add a Dirt Mile division with a couple of races during the year and a race in the Bargain Bowl. I like this because I think this would be a competitive division, we would have bargains that are good dirt milers.
The Marathon - I like the idea of adding a long distance race, however I do worry that we may not have quality or quantity in this division. At the beginning of the year we had the Lino Challenge, and we had 9 entries, Koko Shan was outstanding earning a 99 speed figure. And he has kept it up during the year, probably would have no doubt dominated this division. I wonder if another race during the year would have produced a 9 horse field?
I am not sure where to go with this division. Should it be all dirt?, Should it be a combo such as a 12f dirt race like the Lino Challenge on dirt, The Wombat at 16f on turf, and then a bargain bowl race at 14f on dirt? I may run this division as an experiment, allowance races instead of stakes during the year to see what happens. I think though I might be leaning toward all dirt here.
Race Distances - Some races in real life are different distances than what we run our races. I like the Derby and Classic at 9.5f instead of 10f, so I am not going to list those here.
Filly and Mare Sprint - 7f Chance for Delta 6f
I am not sure why the Breeders Cup chose 7f for the fillies but they did. Should we leave the Change for Delta at 6f or move it 7f? I am open to suggestion here. I see where it might be interesting to not have the fillies and boys running the same distance.
Juvy turf 8f - Juvy turf 7f
Juvy dirt 8.5f - Juvy Dirt 7f
I am moving the Juvy races out to at least 8f next year maybe 8.5f. I was thinking of having a 6f or 6.5f stakes in August then the Stakes in October like we had this year with the El Joven and Ginger Ale, then the bargain bowl races.
Turf races in general we run at shorter distances than their real life counter parts. My thinking behind the distances for the Cougar Bite and the Vimes Distaff, is that we will draw a bigger, more competitive field at a distance where 12f horses can compete with 9f horses. So the Arc and Cougar Bite at 10f seems to fit or work out ok, although I would like to hear what you guys think. Should we move these to 12f? The Vimes out to 11f or 10.5f instead of 9.5f?
Really right now there is not much difference in turf distances outside the Wombat. So there is not really a long turf division we sort of have a middle distance division and a mile division with a lot of cross over between the two. I like that but maybe we are not doing distance runners justice over all in the series.
Equinics - I have not contacted those that run the Equinics yet, but if interest level is high enough amongst trainers here I may contact them to verify the rules a residency must use to qualify for Equinics. If I think we would not be breaking any rules or have to over haul things around here to get in I think it could be interesting. While we are not a traditional residency we have all the makings of one, we have a website, message board, restricted races, standings, awards but we are different. Not really sure any of our bargains would stand a big chance but might be fun.
Over all I am having a blast with the series. Drives me crazy I cannot get more good bargain runners but I am having fun none the less. The participation level I think is pretty solid in the series, but I would like to maybe attract a few more players to the series. I am open to any ideas on how to possibly do this.