Marathon Races

[TheBull]

Does anyone else feel like Saratoga has carded a lot more mile and 3/8ths marathons than usual so far this meet? It is at least one a day, if not more. Just not too keen on those types of races and they are always in the middle of the late pk4/pk5 sequence. Anyone else struggling with them? The results have seemed more random than the other more frequently run distances.

[Bet Twice]

I haven\'t been following Saratoga closely but agree those types of races can be tough.  They typically include many horses trying that distance for the first time so in addition to the sheet read you need to try to factor that in - a bit of a crapshoot.  I try to avoid.

[TheBull]

Precisely. The issue is, right now, they are tough to avoid when playing late pk4s and pk5s at this meet Yes, you can go all in those legs but you seriously reduce your coverage on the rest of the ticket. I understand you are going to have to solve many different types of races if you want to hit those bets, but at least make the variety include more frequently run distances and levels. To me, from a handicapping perspective, it is no different than putting a quarterhorse race in the sequence every day.

[TempletonPeck]

I think you\'re looking at this backwards.

The more oddball races that are in a sequence, the more demanding the handicapping is, the greater the advantage the sharp player has over the field.

You should wish that no race in the sequence had a single thing in common with another race. Make the public solve 5 *totally* different puzzles to hit a pick-5, and see what the payouts look like.