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FAVORED BY POST POSITION Horses on Inside at Aqueduct Had an Advantage Over Others Fifteen of TwentyFive Eaces Out Outof of Chute Went to First Four FourNumbers Numbers To Alter Track Xcw York July 1C During the Aqueduct meet ¬ ing which closed Saturday there was much dis ¬ cussion regarding the value of post positions of the horses especially in the races out of the chute So imiKirtant were these jntsitions considered that many times horsemen almost gave up hopes of win ¬ ning when they drew what was termed an unde ¬ sirable location locationA A careful survey of the conditions that existed shows there were good grounds for the claimants for in twentyfive races out of the chute fifteen or threefifths of them were won l y horses that started from cither the first second third or fourth position The remaining ten winners varied between the fifth and twentieth positions for on more than one occasion there were twenty starters in the Aqueduct races the average being roughly esti ¬ mated at sixteen sixteenInvestigation Investigation shows almost conclusively that horses unless extremely fast beginners have their chances of winning materially minimized if they occupy any position at the start further out than fifth These conditions are no doubt brought about liy the formation of the track which has an elbow about an eighth from the start and a horse next to the rail has quite an advantage over those which have to make a detour l efore arriving at the elbow elbowIt It must be admitted however that a fast be ¬ ginner from an outside position can make a dash for the elbow and lose little ground by so doing but slow beginners are practically out of conten ¬ tion before the elbow is reached reachedRemedies Remedies have been suggested one of which seems practicable That is to place the outside post of the barrier more forward so that the line from the outside position to the elbow woidd be equal in point of distance to the inner rail railThe The suggestion may be considered by President hcvln before the opening of the fall meeting That the post positions in the chute races were a great factor in the results was well known to most of the smart riders who invariably tried to edge their mounts to the inside while Starter Cassidy was getting the fields lined up Sometimes they succeeded and it materially aided their positions at the finish of the race raceNORMAL NORMAL AT OTHEB POINTS POINTSThe The conditions at other points of the track were more normal at the starting point Out of sixty ciglit races run from different points where the start was made on the backstretch about onethird of them or twentyfour in number were won by horses that started from the sixth position or fur ¬ ther out than the sixth position The remaining fortyfour winners started from one of the first five post positions This indicates that a rail position is more preferable even in races other than out of the chute though there are times when an outside position is desired by horsemen in cases of slow be giuners which are more liable to meet interference than if they were on the outside outsideThe The following table will give horsemen a line 011 the starting conditions at the Aqueduct track trackResult Result of sixtyeight races at threequarters or more started on the backstretch backstretchPost Post position 1 2 3 4 5 0 to 0 Winners 9 7 10 8 10 24 24Results Results of twentyfive races out of chute at five eighths or less lessPost Post position 1 2 3 4 5 C to 20 Winners 5 3 1 0 0 20 20Comparing Comparing the figures at Belmont Park with those it Aqueduct the law of average at Bclmont is prac ¬ tically maintained up to the ninth position the figures showing as follows followsPost Post position 12345C7S 9 10 to 22 22Winners Winners 10 12 12 10 9 5 7 9 7 11 11The The cause of the increased number of winners starting from the first four positions is due to the f1et there were many races in which the fields Avcre small at times there being but three and four starters in some of the races This brings out the fact that more than fifty per cent of the winners at Bclmoiit Park started within the fifth post position which makes the result look abnormal This would not have been the case had the fields been as large as they were at Aqueduct AqueductThere There were twentyseven of the ninetytwo races run on the flat at Bolmont Park with six horses or Jens named as starters This explains the extra ¬ ordinarily largo percentage of winners coming from Ihf inside positions Had the conditions in this respect been more normal there is little question that the average would have been decidedly more uniform
