Yonkers Pick 4--September 10, 2012

Guaranteed $20,000 pool tonight in races 7-10. I'm excited for it. Looking for thoughts if anyone else here follows the buggies like me.

I'm thinking of going with:

7: Box Car Johnnie/I'm So Blue
8: Bombay Away/Black Hat
9: Top Doc
10: Vesuvio Grande/Light Up The Sky

Cost $16

What's the pool normally on a Monday night ? I had a friend, Hot Horse Harry, who worked for Pinkerton at the trotters in Laurel.
Unlike thorough bred racing, owner and trainers had to stay in the paddock until the horses were " on the move". As the guard who opened the paddock gate, Harry would then sprint to the tellers and place bets for owners or trainers.

Of course, back then, the trotter and pacer races were often fixed. Not like today. ROFLMAO

You seriously think harness racing is still fixed? I know it used to be bad, but its too regulated to still be fixed, in my opinion.

Are you serious ? Really ! It is more expensive too fix a race and less visible, but it continues. It is a sport
designed to benefit cheater, even if that was not the original intent.

" Herve Filion, described by his lawyer as the Babe Ruth of harness racing, turned himself in to the authorities here today amid charges that he and two other harness drivers threw races at Yonkers Raceway earlier this summer."

Need I say more ?

Thats from 1995! As I said, it used to be fixed. I'm streaming Yonkers right now and after 3 races the favorite has won all 3. Hard to argue the fix is in there.

Really ? I mean biggest fixes I ever saw were favorites to win or favorites to lose. Not saying things are as bad as they were. Back in the 80's you could fix a race for $100 or less. But with exotics and the ability to break a trotter at will, some things will never change.

Thru 4 races at Yonkers, a mere $2 bet on the favorite (who won every race so far) would show a $10.20 PROFIT!

Rather than accepting entries from anyone who wanted to race at the Meadowlands, Gural made all trainers send in an application in which they basically had to ask permission to be able to compete at his track. He and his staff have been tight-lipped about who was and was not approved but it appears that 9 or 10 trainers were excluded.

The only name that has come out so far is that of Lou Pena, the Big M's leading trainer in 2010 and 2011. Pena has been a dominant force at several Mid-Atlantic tracks over the last two years and horses that come into his barn often improve dramatically. People have their suspicions about him, but he has not had a major drug violation since coming east from California.

Gural will never reveal his feelings about Pena, but it's pretty obvious what he thinks of him. To keep him and others out, he used the most under-utilized tool in racing, a private track's right to exclude anyone it wants. Gural doesn't have to have a reason for banning a trainer. He can simply tell one they are not welcome at his racetrack. Case closed.

Does Lou Pena have any entries at Yonkers? Just curious.

I don't follow harness too closely, but something just isn't right at Yonkers. Strange things happen there.

Quote: buzzpaff

Back in the 80's you could fix a race for $100 or less.

Really? The trainer or driver or whomever was risking a 20 year federal prison sentence for $70? Makes sense to me! Of course you have evidence for these sub $100 fixes.....

Just let me do a little research, It happened here in Colorado .And the undercover state trooper was fixing races for that amount.

I bet $10 per race tonight along with my $16 Pick 4 bet. I ended the night -$11.10. Not great being in the negative, but I had a chance at quite a few exacta and trifecta wins and I was in a large Pick 4 pool. So only losing $11 in 4 hours and having fun while also having a chance at some big money isnt bad in my eyes.

My boy has this strategy to always bet $2 of his allowance on every race on the ML favorite to win. Tonight the ML favorite won 8/12 races and he netted a $16.60 profit. Way better than me. LoL

The Pick 4 paid $5,168 and I only hit 1 of the 3 winners.

I did find something interesting at the end of the card though...in races 11 and 12...a guy named Pat Lachance who is owner, trainer and driver had 2 longshots win the late DD for $371.50. I'm one of the biggest harness racing supporters in America, and NEVER want to even consider the fix being in, bu I found this rather strange. Especially with all the talk in here earlier.

Preety sure it was 1976. State trooper was undercover as a driver, would pay as little as $50 for a driver to keep a favorite or
second choice off the board along with his horse. They you can wheel the other 6 in the trifecta.

Never said crooks were smart.

When the leading trainer at Meadowland for 20101 and 2011 is persona-non-Grata for 20212, what more do you need to know?

Not some one horse stable, or a trainer who only won 2 or 3 races, but the leading trainer. Think about that !

SOOPOO You can believe me or not. Google brings all sort of B-centennial stuff. Can find 3 by 5 cards on digital search in Denver Public library about 6 drivers being indited by grand jury.
The year was 1976. I started at AT&T in 1969 with 2 and 1/2 years on 6 year scale $103 a week. So I am sure that in 1976 $50 was a
days pay at a good job. Not bad for keeping your horse out of the money !

Denver Post on-line archives only go back to 1989. Damn, i am feeling old tonight.

Meadowlands opened on Sep 1 1976 Attendance 43,000 +

Harness racing executives say the sport is in danger of dying in New Jersey. Jeff Gural stepped up to the challenge with one main goal: make the Meadowlands cool to attract a younger crowd.

Approximately 85% of the track's simulcast customers last year were regular customers over 50 years old. "Unless you replace those old customers with new customers, you have a gloomy future," Gural said.

Since Bill O'Donnell drove Prakas to victory on 1985's record-setting Hambletonian Day, attendance has dipped 35% from 37,562 to Saturday's 24,521 and live on-track handle has plummeted 62% from $4.4 million to $1,649,385 million.

NO CASINO = NO RACING at horse tracks in the near future