Bergman: Looking at ways to stop the “qualifiers for money”

How high must purses be in order for all horses to take steps forward?

It would be easy to criticize drivers for not driving as we watched $44,000 featured events where positions were established early and very little changed until the race was three-quarters over at Yonkers this past weekend.

As is with most things it’s the easiest finger to point but not always the right one.

Drivers earn their livings from a percentage of the income of owners and they are responsible to those who pay their salaries. The betting public or what we call our fan base is hardly a voice of concern when considering drivers’ motives.

In some ways it’s a sad commentary that we have arrived at this spot. It is a unique sign of a ship steered in the wrong direction and off course in such a way it’s never likely to reach a thriving port.

When I first started going to the races at Roosevelt Raceway and got hooked it was only after many days at Aqueduct watching my horse from afar struggle to find its footing and often left well in arrears of a pack. Roosevelt during those days and subsequently regularly saw an entire field within five lengths of the leader by the halfway point and getting even closer on the backstretch.

Memories may be all we have these days of closer activity or at least the perception of a competitive race. Sure we can tell the judges to make sure drivers keep the holes closed, but in actuality many of those holes are opened by horses 20-1 and greater that get out of the way sooner as opposed to being run over in the late stages.

At Yonkers it is the same old story.

This isn’t to say that even the least sharp handicapper could have expected both Bit Of A Legend N and Somewhere In L A to be racing from off the pace in their first prep races of the year. It’s to say what purpose does this race have being on the actual betting card? Why give away $44,000 in purse money if all horses aren’t on the same page and by that we mean aggressively trying to contend and win the race?
There should be no awards given for horses racing just the last quarter of a mile.

If it’s considered acceptable to treat betting races as for lack of a better term “final training miles” then we are in fact helping to create fixed races.

There is a way to change this dilemma but it requires cooperation from all horsemen and better attention in creating the racing product.
For starters I would say that any first-time returning starter (not an unraced horse) that doesn’t move before the half should be forced to requalify twice before being allowed in a purse race. While the drivers of Bit of A Legend N and Somewhere In L A can’t be faulted for not leaving, the same is not true for inability to sense an incredibly slow second quarter and put their horses in motion to give the appearance of effort and competitiveness.

What strikes me as complicit is how easily horsemen accept their fate in some of these races as if the leader can’t be having a bad day and perhaps if tested may succumb. That’s the frustrating part of actually watching two races on Saturday night at Yonkers where favorites strolled around the track unchecked in the early stages. We’re talking specifically about the Levy-bound Anythingforlove A in the $35,000 Preferred event and Bettors Fire N in the $44,000 Open event. Both were sent postward as even-money choices and both were unchallenged to average opening quarter leads and :30-plus second next-quarter times.

While neither managed to win the race both were afforded a combination of respect and lack of interest from the other horses. In Anythingforlove A’s case it really wasn’t that big a surprise that 52-1 shot Lightning Onmyfeet didn’t make a first-over move from the three-hole. That lack of movement comes directly from the race office that should know well enough if a horse fits the class. In this case Lightning Onmyfeet is a “space filler” that essentially gets in the way of creating more competition instead of advancing it.

While Don Domingo N came from second over to surge by Bettors Fire N in the night’s feature the dynamic in this race and its slow second quarter was the direct result of Bit Of A Legend N refusing to pull from the three hole despite the pedestrian second split. As a 7-2 offering that’s simply not very fair to those wagering on the race. A horse that was a solid second behind likely Horse of the Year McWicked in the $250,000 Dan Rooney on International Day in his next to last start of 2018 is unwilling to go first over. Why?

With nearly $2.5 million in career earnings, a large majority in the last three years primarily at Yonkers, Bit Of A Legend N and his driver have no business sitting in period. If Bit Of A Legend N comes up short in his first start back at the races all bettors will understand why. The fact that he’s on the track for exercise and the betting public be damned is a public relations nightmare without anyone in power receiving the memo.

For those that wish to spend money promoting the sport it’s time to understand there are a lot of things we can do differently that don’t require an investment at all, just more attention to detail and more demands made on those responsible for putting on the show. When those who love the sport and actually watch the races need a supply of NoDoz to stay awake during the two highest purse races of the week there is a problem.

Handle matters and those that create it matter more. It’s time we respect the bettor and give him/her a reason to come back.