2011: Swap to dirt track for slow turf races?

If the turf track is sloppy, should the race be swapped to run on the dirt?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Don’t Care

0 voters

In real life racing, if the turf track is really sloppy/wet, races will be run on the dirt track instead (provided they’re not canceled, obviously).

Should FF follow this pattern in 2011, or should the ponies just slog through the underwater grass?

Feel free to comment below.

I voted no. :slight_smile:

In Aus we only run on turf.

I figure in FF if your horse is a turfer and is okay with the track being wet he/she won’t mind running. But then if the race is switched to dirt it disadvantages them more.

We only have a couple of dirt tracks in the UK, so our flat racers run whether its wet or not as long as it isn’t dangerous. Some horses act well on the going so and advantage to them, lost if they change to dirt. I would vote no, certainly for UK racing.
Penny

I vote for the switch with a proviso that you need to have a “check box” on the entry that you’ll be able to scratch your horse to stop it from racing on dirt if that is your desire. I think I might even go as far as to ask for entry money refunds for those that scratch. The race then like real life would only go if there were 4 betting interests or scratched completely if not enough racers stay in.  ::) Just the rambling thoughts of an age crazed lunatic!!!  ::)

I put no for purely selfish reasons. Most of my turf horses would run much better on sloppy turf than dirt I think.

EDIT: I guess I wouldnt mind if we knew early enough and were notified so we could scratch… or maybe that defeats the purpose.

Since it seems as Americans are the only one to do this, maybe just make it a condition on American tracks? The scratching check-box sounds like a good idea also.

I agree that only the American tracks should do this because they are the only ones that do it in real life.  I also agree with the check box.
Thanks,
Lisa

I say no because if your horse likes turf, he/she is more likely to run better on turf, no matter what the condition. That’s what I think anyway. However, it does make the game a teensy bit more realistic. In the end though, I vote no.

I would say “yes” if there was a checkbox feature added- your horse scratched and entry refunded if it was going to be run on the dirt, but I did vote no to the current proposal.

I voted “yes” because it can bring some added strategy in entering horses to races.
If I have a dirt horse that is so-so on the Turf I may enter him/her into the Turf race with the added bonus of an off track. Plus its how they do it in the real-world so following that line I think its cool

I voted no along the lines of it only being done in the U.S. and if you enter a horse in a turf race you probably did that for a good reason, especially considering that with more races next year it is likely that you could have entered a dirt race but entered a turf(once again, for a reason).

I voted no. If I want a horse to run on dirt I’d enter it in a dirt race :wink: I also think there should be a box to check if you don’t want your horse to run in the slop, dirt or turf.

I voted “yes” for realism sake before reading that only Americans do that :wink:.

I’m really ok with either, though having an option to scratch your horse due to inclement weather would be nice… If I know my horse hates wet going I’d much rather scratch him, lose the entry fee, and have a chance to run him somewhere he’s likely to earn money than waste the entry fee and his energy.

I whole-heartedly agree with this concept.  For example, my filly Salem is a MSW, but get her on a wet track and it seems she runs close to dead last every time- she hates it.  I would rather have a chance to enter her in the next week’s races instead of having her wasting a race and energy.  In real life I would have scratched her from the race if it was too wet, so I think it would be nice if we could have some sort of option to not run them.

I can work on conditional scratching, but it’ll hopefully be a bit of a moot point.  (Not to mention a lot of work, since owners of mudders would want to scratch if the track is fast, so it can’t just be a simple “if the track is wet, scratch my horse” type of thing.)  Regardless, if you were to select to auto-scratch your horse, you would not get a refund…if you want a refund, scratch before entries close.  :wink:

For 2011, I’m planning on doing weather forecasting (which will get more accurate as the day gets closer), so you’ll be able to tell the day before the race that there’s, say, a 50% chance of rain.

That seems good/sufficient/acceptable. :slight_smile: 

Directions above are for 2 boxes on an entry form “somewhere else” :wink: I’m not suggesting them for here. It’s just to illustrate that the question is not ours alone. I personally have not used those boxes, because the percentage of chance for an off track is fairly accurate. However I have a couple of horses that I look for off tracks for. The worse the better  >:D Weather will add an interestinf facet to how we choose our races ;D

I voted no because, even though I like realism, I don’t think I’d like it if, say my turf horse runs so terrible on dirt that he’d rather swim through flooded grass. Good idea, though!  :wink: