For photos from the Meadowlands contact Lisaphoto@playmeadowlands.com

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Time to Revamp the Hambletonian

Saturday afternoon is the 84th running of the Hambletonian Stakes for three year old trotters. A great supporting race card will be conducted, there will be rare television coverage, pageantry will be part of the day. The Hambletonian Society will be there to present the trophy to the winner of the race. Only one thing....

The Hambletonian is just the Hambletonian in name only.

Sure the race has a $1.5 million dollar purse; yes it is the first leg of the triple crown; it has a trophy. But don't kid yourself, this race has been so modified that the only thing this race has in common with the Hambletonian of old is the name and the fact the race is for three year old trotters.

Let's go over the changes that occurred during the years since you originally had to win two heats to win the race regardless of the number of heats required:
  1. The number of heats were limited so you never raced more than three heats (a good change) - 1977.
  2. The race was changed so you no longer had to win two races. Instead of purse money being awarded by best in summary, you were awarded money based on your performance in the elimination and then on the final. The winner of the final was the winner of the trophy - 1991.
  3. Heat racing stops. If there is a need for an elimination it would be held the week before. The final would be held the first afternoon in August. This for the benefit of simulcasting and television. - 1997
  4. To accommodate television, the Hambletonian moves to the second week of August - 2009.

With the exception of the first item which can be attributed to animal welfare, the last three changes were done for the benefit of television and publicizing the sport. I am not saying these changes are bad; while I am a traditionalist by heart I realize you need to make changes to stay relevant. If it does not work then change it (this is why the Little Brown Jug should not change; if you get 50,000 people to show up at a county fair track on a Thursday afternoon, it works; leave it alone).

The point is if the Hambletonian has been changed so much to keep up with the modern times, then let's drop the charade and make changes that matter to make the race a much better event. There are a couple of key problems with the current format of the Hambletonian.

  • If only eleven horses enter the Hambletonian all the horses get to start. More than eleven horses, we divide into eliminations. However, if we go to eliminations, we need to divide the race so we never get more than ten horses in the race. Hence we can get three or four short fields in elimination races which are unbettable.
  • We assign the elimination winners the inside posts in the final instead of having an open draw making it easier for them to win the final. The feeling is we need to offer them the chance to draw for the inside to ensure elimination contestants do more than just try to qualify for the final. This is because we offer only a $70,000 purse in the elimination for a $1.5 million dollar final. Every other horse in the final has to rely on the luck of the draw but one thing for sure, there is no chance they will get a prime post position. Could you imagine having an Open Handicap at your track where the best horses in the race always drew the inside post position? Not much of a race.

Here are the changes I would make to the Hambletonian at this point. Get rid of the eliminations. Let's take a page from the Kentucky Derby and the Battle of Brandywine. Limit the starters to the top ten money earners. Let's take the $1.5 million dollar purse the Hambletonian final currently goes for and divide it this way: $900,000 Hambletonian - Gold; $400,000 Hambletonian - Silver; $200,000 Hambletonian - Bronze. The Hambletonian Gold will continue to be the triple crown event. Instead of declaring for the eliminations the week before the eligible horses will enter the race. The top ten money earners in the current year will race in the gold division; the next ten will race in the silver division; the next ten will race in the bronze division. If more than thirty horses enter, the rest of the horses will not get in and their sustaining payments refunded. Depending on which division you draw into, your starting payment would be adjusted accordingly.

What happens if we do this? First of all, we get three exciting races; dashes for the cash. Instead of questions of whether horses are trying in their eliminations we eliminate the problem. Horsemen actually get to compete in races they have a realistic chance to succeed in with corresponding payments in line with the final purse structure. Instead of five horses picking up a check; you get fifteen horses picking up checks; there is a good chance you will get more nominations and sustaining payments. Our horses will have to race more to qualify for the Hambletonian. What they do as a two year old has no bearing on their eligibility for the Hambletonian final. A three year old that did not race as a two year old has just as good a chance to get in the race. The cherry picking of three or four starts before the Hambletonian goes away as horses would have to earn their way into the race. Last year as a result of these types of rules for the Battle of Brandywine, horses which normally would have skipped the Adios decided to enter the race to make sure they got into the top division of the Battle. Television coverage for this race does not change. You still have a good idea who is going to get into the Hambletonian in the weeks leading up the race; with the field being locked in a week before.

One of the goals of the Hambletonian Society is to promote the sport. Here is a chance to make one more set of changes to the Hambletonian to make the race as good an event as possible for all involved. Let's see if they rise to the occasion.

6 comments:

malcer said...

I think drawing the top horses on the inside for races of that magnitude is a good compromise between the interests of horsemen and bettors.

I know I'd be super-pissed if I bred and owned the best 3yo trotter in America and on his one chance to win this giant race (and purse) he gets drawn in an impossible position and beaten by horses he pummeled in his previous starts.

There are dozens of betting races every single day, can't the few really great ones be about class?

That Blog Guy said...

Malcer,

I understand your concern, but shouldn't a true champion be able to overcome a bad post position?

Last week Well Said had the nine hole in the Adios final due to the open draw and he lost. Clearly, he was not at his best, needing a break. If he drew the rail, odds are he would have won. Is that fair to everyone else?

If for some reason only ten horses drew in, there would be no eliminations and there would have been an open draw. Your super horses could draw post ten then. Is that fair to him? What is the difference? Each race should be separate.

A true champion will bounce back from bad racing luck and win the following week and not be penalized in the rankings; look at Somebeachsomewhere after his loss in the Meadowlands Pace.

What about the horse that finishes second by a whisker; it is okay he draws post position ten?

It is my opinion that we weaken the stature of these races when we assign post positions based on an elimination finish. I suspect a number of the winners of races with assigned post positions would not have won with an open draw assuming they drew a worse post.

If these races are tests of champions, then let's test them fair and square without helping to favor one horse over another by giving them preferential treatment.

malcer said...

Good retort!

You're right, a level playing field can never be had on an oval course. And of course there's no entirely convincing argument why the top horses should be drawn on the inside if there are 11, but not if there are only 10 entries.

The only reason is essentially to give meaning to the elims, and possibly the hope that a race such as the Hambletonian SHOULD have more than 10 entries, in which case the "deserved advantage" would apply.

Moira said...

Full disclosure first- I work for the Hambletonian Society, though like pacingguy I am first and foremost a fan. I’m a former caretaker, had a trainer’s license for a thankfully brief period and am married to a trainer.

I went to my first Hambo at DuQuoin, and also the last one there and hated when the race left. Years later I have to grudgingly admit that I admire the Society [most of those directly responsible for the move are dead or long retired] for having the foresight to change ahead of the times, instead of being dropkicked through the future like most of harness racing.

I am not sure why you think CHANGE constitutes a charade. To change the format or other things about the race-- what hasn't changed in harness racing since 1977? Track surfaces, racebikes, betting formats, betting outlets, shoes, equipment, harnesses, feed, breeding, race scheduling, training methods—it would be hard to find something unchanged since 1977.

The Society has been mostly made up of people deeply entrenched in the sport with names like Miller, Dancer, Haughton, Hempt, Simpson etc….they often made changes to the race or the race conditions to respond to how the breed had evolved or other issues brought to their attention. As for heats, it’s not like they have flourished or been popular with horseman, who patronize only two heat races I can think of and recently even the Adios and the World Trotting Derby recognized heats as being unpopular and went to a single race format.
Why does changing the date by a week for network TV constitute a charade? And it has NEVER solely been changed for TV- the wagering aspect and host track needs play just as big a part in the decision about date and format.

The Hambo date has never been sacrosanct – in 84 years it’s been all over the calendar. Did Monday Night Football ruin or create a tradition?

Anyway, my personal opinion jibes with yours about elim winners and field sizes. I don’t like the elim winners getting to pick their post. If you’re the best you should be the best from any spot. This isn’t a field of 20 claimers at Yonkers where post position is everything. I also think there should never be less than 10 horses on the gate [I did not think nine in this year’s Oaks was fair to the track, owners who paid in but missed the final by one spot or to bettors] and as for 11—well, owners have been nearly unanimous in their loathing of ANY trailer, but particularly in a stake race where they put up payments and starting fees. They want to be on the gate.

I’ll also tell you that your tier system has been considered and may well happen someday. Hambo conditions are written three years out and in fairness cannot change after the first yearling stake payment is accepted. So it takes 3 years for a change in the conditions to hit the racetrack. I can also assure you that the directors that comprise the Society now, have the best interest of the race at heart and there are many traditionalists and purists among them.

I visit your site frequently pacingguy, and I probably know you since you are from NJ. I just want to thank you for being living proof that intelligent, fact-based discourse can be found on the internet.
Thanks,
Moira Fanning
THSI

That Blog Guy said...

Moira,

Thank you for your comments.

When I used the term charade, I was referring to the idea the race is so sacrosanct that it can not be drastically changed. While the race has evolved gradually over the years it has changed so much that you really can not say a horse like Speedy Streak (1967) won the same race as Muscle Hill. Other than the race is for three year old trotters and the name, the races are very different. The Hambletonian has changed so much that we should be talking about modern day winners and all time winners like they do in baseball when they refer to those that played baseball under different rules.

I am glad to hear that the Hambletonian Society is constantly reviewing the conditions of the Hambletonian and Oaks to keep the races up to date with the sport. Here is hoping that they change the way horses make the final as soon as possible either through the tiered system or if keeping eliminations, come up with a way to ensure all entrants try their best to win their elimination. Being the Hambletonian is the 'Holy Grail' of trotting, there is just something fundamentally wrong with giving someone an advantage on the journey; we cheapen the history of prior race winners by doing so.

Moira said...

PG, agreed and agreed!
Moira