Can Northfield horses compete elsewhere?

[trackrat]

Last week, Steve Carter sent a number of his horses to the Meadowlands to race; not sure if he was testing the waters or if he plans to move his stable to the east coast. Anyway, my question is this:

Name at least one Northfield horse who would be competitive at the Meadowlands.[/b]


Speaking about the competitiveness of Northfield horses, Stan (a trotter who has raced at Northfield) won the $30,000 Open Handicap at Yonkers Saturday night; also, Murphy's Best (who I believe raced at Northfield several years ago) won a $20,000 claiming race for $50k claimers.

[jimhorseman]

Trackrat:

I think both Marvel Sahbra and Jetstream Cute Cam could be competitive in the right class at The Meadowlands. Seems since Delaware, New York, Pennsylvainia and Ontario are offering slots many horses are drawn to the bigger purses of Dover, Yonkers, Chester and the Woodbine/Mohawk circuit. Maybe a better question would be if The Meadowlands is still the track where all the premier horses are run on a consistent basis.

[trackrat]

I agree on your two choices Jim. In the past two years, we have seen good drivers depart (Grismore, Tony Hall, Josh Kash) and we have also seen a lot of owners and trainers move their stables to Buffalo or Hoosier when they are open, obviously for the higher purses. From my perspective, even though Buffalo is paying higher purses, the quality of horses doesn't seem much better than Northfield's. What's your take on that?

[jimhorseman]

Trackrat:

I think the quality of horses is currently better at Northfield than the Buffalo/Batavia circuit. It was no surprise to me that the leading driver this past year at Buffalo was Keith Kash, Jr and the leading stable was headed by Ken Holliday. The horses they brought from Northfield dominated and while they were successful in the past at Northfield I don't think they dominated when there.

The local horsemen were on the verge of starvation often running for $1,000 purses before the slots came a couple of years ago. Purses on average are up three fold since then (hear that Ohio - come on wake up). However, the purses increased at all tracks in NY State so new stables did not come in from intrastate. Also, Pennsylvainia to the south and Ontario to the north have slots and higher purses so nothing new from there. In fact, the horses here are the same "B" level horses for the most part that were racing before the approval of slots. The only exception are the couple of stables that came in from Northfield.

However; now that locals are earning a profit they are starting to bring in better stock. Kash, Jr with his primary owner; The Inquisitive Stable, announced he was forty horses in training and twenty five are at Buffalo awaiting the upcoming opening on Feb 15th. Also, the higher purses have drawn in some new owners who feel they can make money and those people are investing in decent animals. It will take another couple of years but unless Ohio wakes up I'm afraid it will turn around and Northfield will be considered the substandard track.

[badolpuddytat]

jimhorseman said:

Trackrat:

I think the quality of horses is currently better at Northfield than the Buffalo/Batavia circuit. It was no surprise to me that the leading driver this past year at Buffalo was Keith Kash, Jr and the leading stable was headed by Ken Holliday. The horses they brought from Northfield dominated and while they were successful in the past at Northfield I don't think they dominated when there.

The local horsemen were on the verge of starvation often running for $1,000 purses before the slots came a couple of years ago. Purses on average are up three fold since then (hear that Ohio - come on wake up). However, the purses increased at all tracks in NY State so new stables did not come in from intrastate. Also, Pennsylvainia to the south and Ontario to the north have slots and higher purses so nothing new from there. In fact, the horses here are the same "B" level horses for the most part that were racing before the approval of slots. The only exception are the couple of stables that came in from Northfield.

However; now that locals are earning a profit they are starting to bring in better stock. Kash, Jr with his primary owner; The Inquisitive Stable, announced he was forty horses in training and twenty five are at Buffalo awaiting the upcoming opening on Feb 15th. Also, the higher purses have drawn in some new owners who feel they can make money and those people are investing in decent animals. It will take another couple of years but unless Ohio wakes up I'm afraid it will turn around and Northfield will be considered the substandard track.

Since I took care of Josh when he was a little kid PLUS I ALSO raced at the Buffalo/ Batavia circuit many years ago I think I can give my .02 cents. All last year have you noticed horses going from NFLD to Buffalo how many NFLD horses won first time there? NOT MANY!!!!!!!!!!! VERY FEW. When I raced at Buffalo they ALWAYS won. Their purse structure PLUS the horses Buffalo is getting exceeds the quality that NFLD has now. Buffalo get's horses and drivers from other tracks now. It is not just a Josh or Holiday show anymore. Ever hear of Josh Marks? As Josh used to tell me when Morril drove there, all the drivers KNEW that Jim is going to get his 5 or 6 wins a night. It is the OTHER races that they cannot have a slack-offs if they were to win money. AND as I tell you this yes Buffalo has slots BUT mark my words in a couple of years when some of the novelty wears off Buffalo and some other tracks will be looking for other ways to get customers back.

[longtimeplayer]

Since Batavia is my home track here's a 30 yr opinion. I don't think Northfield horses are alot better than Batavia, pretty close to the same. For example Donnizetti raced up here with moderate success, now having same success in Northfield. I believe the difference is with better purses you get a wave of different horses and drivers passing through, not necessiarly sticking around long. Our local drivers, trainers and owners have had to raise the quality of there stock to compete with the passing through group along with the Jim Morrill factor. Jim got on horses that didn't have any idea where the winners circle was, until he rode them. I played several horses he got on when the local couldn't get the horse to the wire, he did and fairly easily. Puddy is right about the novelty wearing off, only if they let it wear off though. A good marketing and promotion department is keeping Batavia in the black for now.