Half mile racing has always been my favorite to attend. I always enjoyed all the sights, smells and the close proximity to the action. I mean without cameras how can anyone over 50 make out the horse numbers at a mile track? That being said the big negative of half mile is betting.The percentage of winning favorites has always been higher than mile tracks but now it makes betting a real bad choice. According to the USTA stats half mile favs are coming in at 47% to almost 50%. Add to that that the pools at some of these tracks are pathetically low. I believe there are two reasons for these trends. The first is the shortage of horses which leads to fields that often only have 5-6 horses. Secondly race secretaries are establishing conditions that favor the bigger trainers or just to fill a race. Whether odds on horses win or not, the number of them is much higher than what existed in the 70’s and 80’s. So between the field sizes and pools this is why the Meadowlands is a much better betting proposition than places like Yonkers, Monticello, Saratoga etc. The Meadowlands percentage of favs is approximately 10%-13% lower with much bigger pools, even with all the amateur drivers. Any thoughts?
