Yonkers

[the believer]

Anyone follow Yonkers ? It seems they have changed to.... feel the excitement every 25 mins .?

[cliff]

They've taken a page out of the Northfield playbook, leaving the 0 minutes to post five minutes or more. Others have noticed and I've heard the complaints in the race books.

[jimhorseman]

Believer:

As a NY State simulcast patron we get a heavy dose of Yonkers racing. I am usually a fan of good competitive half mile racing and with Northfield on a decline tried Yonkers as an alternate track. Quite frankly I found the racing a bit boring. Very little action till the 3/4 pole and often it is not until the top of the stretch that it appears drivers really try to improve their position.

I spoke to a friend who knows several owners who have had horses race at Yonkers and I think his theory; while initially head scratching, makes some sense. My friend's theory is the racing is dull because the purses are so high. A horse sitting third on the rail may decide not to pull and try a first over challenge for if the move fails he may fall back out of the top five money position. Better to stay third on the rail and suck along for a third or possibly second place check. Considering many races have purses in the $30 to $50K range I see the point. A horse sitting near the back of the pack may feel it is ok to try to pass a few horses late and pick up a 4th or 5th place check to pay expenses and hope for a better post/positioning next start. Horses from the outside may be reluctant to leave fearing getting parked and missing a pay day. Drivers are human too and maybe being conservative with a guaranteed 2nd or 3rd place check is more appealing than going for the win check and perhaps getting nothing. Again this is just a friend's theory but having watched a decent amount of Yonker racing I think there is some merit in his thought.

[trackrat]

I've noticed it the last two weeks or so. With zero minutes to post, I've been able to go to the bathroom, the concession stand and to the tote machines and still have time to get back to my seat. I guess they need to milk every minute for every dollar.

[trackrat]

According to the info on the USTA website, the homestretch at Yonkers is 50% longer than Northfield's (660' vs 440'), leaving a longer straight distance for closing ground in the stretch.

From a handicapping perspective, Yonkers is NOW easier for me to figure out than Northfield, although trust me, no track is easy for the Trackrat. The racing stock is more consistent and the drivers are more predictable. When you are racing for that much money, race after race, night after night, there is no room for cowboys.

Without my Yonkers winnings this year, I would be having my worst year in over a decade.

[gtapp]

Since Yonkers is my second favorite track to bet (after NF) I appreciate any comments about that track. I also have been watching Pompano since Matt has been racing there. Matt has not been bet down to 1-5 on every race he is in and you can pick up a 4 to 1 or 9 to 2 on him and make some money.

Seems like in almost every race at Northfield there is a horse at 1 to 5 or even money. Tough to make money when you have a heavy favorite. Not betting a lot more races lately.

I also like the 2 day challenges that Believer is running. Fun to watch.

I like the fact that Cliff is back and handicapping again. I really missed him in the summer. Hope he realizes how much his tips are appreciated. (might have made me a buck or two)

I also liked the posts from Believer about the Hall of Fame.

All these posts keep the board fresh and interesting. I was a little concerned about the site a couple months ago but I like it again.

[cliff]

Here is my take on handicapping Yonkers, and it is by no means definitive. I've been watching Yonkers the past few weeks, and even wasted some money playing it. At this juncture I've labeled it a "trip track", that is, the contender than gets the best trip generally wins the race.

I watched race after race in which the pocket sitter or the horse coming second over won almost every time. In fact one night I bet a friend that I could pick the winner of every Yonkers race at the 3/4 pole. With $5 from each of us on the table, I picked it up five times in a row before he shouted "enough is enough", and wouldn't bet anymore. The secret - I looked at the odds of the horse in the pocket and the horse second over, the one with the lower odds (more supported at the windows, the better horse) was my pick. Mind you, this was without handicapping the race. Unfortunately, this system won't work, because they won't let me make a wager with the race three quarters over.

I think the Rat's observation of the longer stretch has something to do with it. That longer stretch drive gives the trip horses a better shot at over taking the leader who has to sustain longer, than say a track like Northfield, where we see the front end hold up much better.

I think Jim's observation of "boring" racing also has something to do with it. I won't call it boring, I'll refer to it as "old school". Back in the day on half mile tracks we seldom saw anyone make a move to the outside before the half. That is pretty much how they drive at Yonkers. Northfield's drivers tend to start the outer flow earlier, sometimes much earlier. This may be a left over of the Walter Case era. Case loathed sitting on the rail with the potential of being locked in, so he was always out with his horse early. His theory was a tough trip was better than no trip. Case was in a league of his own, but I suspect a lot of todays drivers, at least the better ones, picked up on this technique.

The point is, at Yonkers the drivers save ground and their horses early, and aided by the extended stretch drive, those that have their horses in the better positions, i.e., in the pocket or second over, have the best chance of over taking the leader and winning the race. At least that's my theory at the moment.

Now while I do take early speed into consideration, I've never been an advocate of trip handicapping. No matter what scenario I carefully lay out in my head before the race, it never seems to play out. So, at this point I'll leave Yonkers to others with a better feel for the nuances of that track. I am going to challenge myself to figure Yonkers out when I have more time for observation and experimentation.