Racing roulette's out at Santa Anita; what about post drag?

With Aidan Butler appointed as acting executive director of California racing operations at The Stronach Group, handicappers will notice a few differences with the racing program when Santa Anita opens its 23-day autumn meet on Friday.

For starters, the iconic downhill turf course will not be used for sprint races, extending a policy put in place this past spring. Instead, a chute extending to 5 ½ furlongs has been added in order to accommodate turf sprints. 

The racing roulette wager, which failed to gather much traction since its introduction, has been shelved. And finally, "post-time drags," common at Gulfstream Park and apparent at fellow Stronach Group property Santa Anita last season, may also be largely a thing of the past.

The elimination of the about 6 ½-furlong sprints on the downhill turf course were part of the slew of safety measures enacted following the spike in equine deaths at Santa Anita during the winter-spring meet. The downhill course will continue to be utilized for longer turf routes, such as the 1 ½-mile Breeders’ Cup Turf set for Nov. 2. 

“We’re not going to be using it this meet for the six-and-a-half (furlongs),” Butler, who was named to his new post in August, told Horse Racing Nation. “I know that the core racing fans love it, and the jocks do too. I met with the jocks and they are so upset about it. They all love the race and think it’s an amazing race.

"But time will tell. There’s a lot of data we are collecting about everything. If it can be proven to be safe, it can come back.

Butler, who is from Birmingham, England, said he too is a fan of the downhill course. He agreed perception with regards to safety played a role in the decision, but added there are just too many more pressing matters to make it a priority at this point. 

“Perception is one part, but it’s also that we have so many things we have to worry about,” Butler said. “Even if it is just perception, why make everyone’s life more difficult? Why not concentrate on getting things rolling really well first? Then, when we have the time, inclination and support to really go and analyze these things properly, then we can bring them back. 

“Listen, where I come from you run left, you run right, you go uphill, you go downhill, you cross roads, you run over rubber mats,” Butler added. “That’s horse racing where I come from. So I don’t necessarily subscribe that it’s a dangerous race. But understand, unless I’m one thousand percent comfortable, I’m not going to even go there.”

Butler added there have also been discussions about possibly extending the turf chute, perhaps all the way to seven furlongs. 

The roulette wager, which was introduced largely to attract novice bettors, split the field into three wagering propositions labeled red, black, and green. However, after factoring takeout, the wager generally consisted of all three choices hovering around even money. Butler said racing roulette could come back in a slightly different format.

“There are different ways to look at why it didn’t shine,” Butler said. “Was it the [takeout] rate? Was it the way it was promoted? Was it the way it was structured? Should it be structured more like the public perception of roulette, with two pseudo even-money chances barring takeout and then a rank, an outsider? The way it ended up was kind of three equalized shots minus the takeout. I’m not sure that’s the way to go.”

Post drags refer to the practice of delaying the start of a race well past the scheduled post time that is indicated on tote boards and monitors. Ostensibly to give bettors more time to bet in order to increase handle, it’s been common practice for several years at Gulfstream Park.

Butler indicated post-time drags will not be part of the normal operating procedure at Santa Anita. However, as with everything at this meet, safety will play a role in that that area as well.

“There will be no real drag,” Butler said. “But listen, it does all go back to safety. The horses will get as much time as they need to get in those stalls. That’s the bottom line.”