The Dead Rail

[ColonelShillito]

I had the luxury of sitting with a noted west coast handicapper/clocker who, when informed early on in the day on Friday that there was a dead rail and the jockeys were avoiding it like the plague (see Commandeered in the first race Friday), exclaimed that the notion of a dead rail is \"just a myth\".  And went on to say that \"Jockeys avoid the rail on big racing days out of fear\".

With that said, is there anybody on this site that DOES NOT believe that the rail was dead?  Personally, I don\'t have physical evidence of it, but just from eyeballing all of the races on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I did not see one horse close well from the inside.  And definitely no Calvin Bo-rail type of rides either.

[miff]

\"I had the luxury of sitting with a noted west coast handicapper/clocker who, when informed early on in the day on Friday that there was a dead rail and the jockeys were avoiding it like the plague (see Commandeered in the first race Friday), exclaimed that the notion of a dead rail is \"just a myth\". And went on to say that \"Jockeys avoid the rail on big racing days out of fear\".

Colonel,

Very surprising that there are some people around the game that believe there is no such thing as a dead rail. That is contrary to what many jocks will say after riding over a surface and what the results show.He may be confusing the various excuses sometimes given by jocks for a bad ride.

Jockeys avoiding the rail on big days out of fear, BRILLIANT!!

Mike

[jmetro]

imo, the rail on the turf was dead as well, or at least less advantageous than the outer paths on the course.   Winter Memories, Midday and Behkabad all found themselves on inner lanes turning for home inside other horses and all got beat to the wire.   Evidently Garrett Gomez was the only jockey who knew that the crown of the track was the best part of it.

Can\'t explain Shared Account though, except for maybe the soft pace.   I wouldn\'t discount her performance for saving ground though.

[alm]

It\'s interesting when you look back at Shared Account\'s figures you could make as good a case for her winning as most others in that race...that\'s the Breeders Cup.

[Boscar Obarra]

He\'s just trying to throw you off the right track. No pun intended

[jack72906]

The inside posts on the main track have been a killer at CD for the last few meets from a win percentage standpoint. It\'s to the point where I am tossing 99% of the rail horses in 6f races regardless of figures/pace/pedigree, etc.

As far as the comments that riders don\'t take the inside on big days because it\'s dangerous, there may be some truth to that but the facts showed that over the two days that closing/winning runs were made from the 3-4 path on the main track. I don\'t think the rail was much of a problem on the backstretch but in the last 3/8 it had to have been pretty deep.

When they interviewed Coa after Big Drama\'s win he told Bailey that he had every intention of getting off of the rail and into the 3 path.

[Lost Cause]

Any word of Borel staying away from the rail intentionally...If he is staying away there must have been an issue.

[TGJB]

First of all, if there\'s one time a jock WILL go where it\'s risky, it\'s on big days-- that\'s a month worth of money in one race for many, aside from prestige and ego. Even the last few years of his career, which he spent mostly 3w, Bailey would try to get through at Saratoga.

Second, anyone who has Race Replays should watch the races from yesterday at Philly Park (whoops, Parx whatever), and then you can tell me there is no such thing as a dead rail.

Having those dead rails in conjunction with accurate figures is one of the biggest edges in the game. CD will be very interesting later in the meet, especially if they then have the rail fixed.

[Badride]

Philly rail yesterday was death

[bstaubs22]

TGJB, I\'ll be out there all of Thanksgiving weekend and I already made a note of watching for some of the horses that will be coming off that dead rail week, Thanks!

B

[TGJB]

Dead rails are marked next the number with an \"X\".

[Beginner]

How do they \"fix\" a dead rail?  Is at as simple as grooming the 1-2 paths?  Man, this game has some serious variables!!

[Boscar Obarra]

Hard to believe that after all this time there is still discussion about this.

 All the pros I knew in the 70\'s accepted track bias as a given, and I presume they did the same in the 1930\'s.

 What\'s the big deal?

[JimP]

TGJB:
I would appreciate it if you would expand on this BC dead rail subject. Three questions come to mind:
1. Was the rail equally disadvantgeous on both days or was it worse on one day than the other?
2. Was the rail equally disadvantageous all the way around the track or does your \"dead rail\" comment apply to only certain segments of the track?
3. How far out from the rail did the \"dead\" area extend? Was the 2-path, or part of the 2-path, as disadvantageous as the area closest to the rail? I.E., Did the disadvantageous area gradually improve with distance from the rail or was there some clear line of demarcation that defined the disadvantageous area?

I pose these questions so that I can better implement your tip that there will be opportunities later in the meet when some of these horses run back on a less biased surface.

[mikemca]

Gibson Crystal paid $17.60 to win today in the 8th at Churchill after being hindered by the dead rail on BC Day.This is the first horse I have seen so far to run back .