Harness: There is no substitute for a one-mile race

Last week The Meadowlands announced changes to the format of its stake races. Fields would be limited to 11 entries as opposed to the previous 12 and regardless of the number of entries, the races will be contested at one mile. In years past if more than 10 horses entered the race, the race was moved to 1 1/8 miles. This leaves the Hambletonian Maturity at The Meadowlands as the only race that will be raced at the added distance, with the conditions of that event allowing for up to 16 horses to compete.

Why the change? First, racetracks throughout harness racing have not experimented with augmented distances like The Meadowlands, with the exception of the International Trot and races exported to France at Yonkers. Therefore, people within the industry have complained about these longer distance events. Some have said it actually brings about less movement in a race, when the objective was for the opposite. Some have said that it doesn’t make sense from a handicapping standpoint as there is no previous data at longer distances to utilize when handicapping such a race. Others simply don’t like the fact that the fastest horses in the world don’t get to chase the all-age one mile record on some of racing’s biggest days. All fair points.

The thought behind the added distance races was two-fold. First, it was based upon increasing field size from 10 to 11 or 12, benefiting some horsemen and resulting in additional handle, potentially. Second, in response to horses starting in the second-tier, the extra eighth-of-a-mile would give those horses in the second-tier more time to navigate through the field, especially with an elongated stretch at the start.

Had other racetracks followed suit, implementing similar plans for some races, perhaps the changes for 2020 would not have been made. Far too often it seems that The Meadowlands ends up on an island when trying to implement a new, creative idea. But more importantly than that, the increased field size and increased distance didn’t seem to move the needle on betting handle. I won’t bore you with a litany of handle numbers, but here are just a couple of examples that speak to this point.

Last year’s Sam McKee Memorial featured a field of 12 at 1 1/8 miles. Handle on that race (excluding multi-race exotics that paid out in that race as technically those bets were placed beginning in a different race) was $381,821. That was a 12-horse field. The last time that race was not contested at the added distance was 2016, where a field of just seven horses competed and handle for that event was $376,544. The full 12-horse field and added distance resulted in just a 1.4% handle increase, despite five more betting interests.

Just this past year, the John Cashman Memorial was contested at one mile with a field of 10 trotters. That race yielded a betting handle of $505,986. That amount included Win, Place, Show, Exacta, Trifecta and Superfecta pools. The year before, the Cashman featured a 12-horse field at 1 1/8 miles and the total handle on those exact same pools was $360,517. That difference certainly speaks for itself.

Several years ago, The Meadowlands experimented with longer races at times with up to 14 horses, ranging in distance from 1 1/16 miles to 1 ½ miles. These weren’t stakes races, but standard overnight races throughout the meet. While handle wagered on those races was similar to all other Meadowlands races, there was never a noticeable jump in handle. Despite the added betting interests in larger fields, it just never resulted in much of an impact for the racetrack.

These past few years we have learned, once again, that the ideal scenario for a harness racing bettor is a one mile track with 10 horses on the gate, much like Joe DeFrank exclaimed 45 years ago when The Meadowlands was nearing its grand opening. Despite all the changes that we have seen in racing, this one ideology has remained constant, which is rather remarkable if you think about it. Put 10 horses on a gate going one lap around a one-mile oval and the result is exactly what the bettors want. What was true in 1976 remains true in 2020.

Admittedly, I grew frustrated with the criticism of The Meadowlands, especially on social media when these longer races were tried. The Meadowlands is in a unique position in the sport. Its handle literally drives the industry as outlined in my column last week. Therefore, it makes sense that any new idea should be experimented at that very venue to gain the most accurate result possible. Having a racetrack that handled $10,000 per race try these types of ideas won’t tell us what we need to know. If suddenly races at longer distances averaged a handle of $11,500, do we really think that 15% increase is reflective of just how successful that experiment would be across the board? We are going to base that on $1,500?

Whenever The Meadowlands tries something knew, it sends a lightning rod through the industry. Opinions are formed immediately and some will be in vehement opposition. But an industry can only move forward through experimenting with new ideas. The Meadowlands isn’t trying something to just benefit them, they are trying for the entire industry. Keep in mind that increasing the field size in a stakes race to 12 horses allowed for two more horses to compete for purses in the hundreds of thousands as well.

There is nothing wrong with trying new things. In fact, I prefer such a plan to the status quo. By trying new ideas we learn as an industry and the results of such experimentation prompt other ideas. Will there be hiccups along the way? Of course! I will be the first to tell you that not everything works as we think it will. Racing is a humbling business. You can analyze figures until you are blue in the face, using years of information to form opinions and ideas to implement. Then, the idea is implemented and the outcome is the exact opposite of what was expected. But, the moment we start criticizing those who try new things and accept the status quo, that is the moment that stifles the potential growth of an industry. My advice, accept the growing pains, in the end, it will be worth it.