I made the schlep down to beautiful MTH Park on sunday and where I was standing by the paddock, I overheard a few trainers
(I think it was Norman Pointer & Derek Ryan)
commenting that they just mowed the turf course. They were speculating that early speed would likely hold up alot more so than
it had been as a result of the turf course being freshly cut. I passed the 1st grass race and watched as some seemingly inferior
animal won on the lead. I was wondering what
the folks here thought about this and whether or not this might be more useful information that could help in the handicapping process. One thing is for sure, the times from sundays card at MTH were pretty quick and I\'m almost certain it
wasn\'t the horses; rather the grass course.
Nunzio
Last yr at Sar in one of those early interviews which are broadcast throughout the track an NYRA employee asked the track super why the fans weren\'t told when the turf course was mowed, saying that was the most frequently asked question she received. The gist of his response was that it didn\'t matter & would be misleading because he & his staff always kept the grass at the same height. Of course, even despite the way the course is babied, by the end of the meet it was such a mixture of mud & grass that some of the wags were calling it a murf course. The condition of the course at that pt was a very important consideration IMHO.
I had never considered mowing & did not give the matter another thought until Sun when, in addition to the 2 very good trainers you mention, the trk handicapper & Ms Burke both acted as though it was the kind of info which was readily available & should play a prominent role in doping out the turf contests. You certainly could make an argument that the winners of the small sample of turf contests on Sun were closer to the pace than in the previous 3 days & it might explain the wire to wire shot which won the turf sprint & which I thought was a toss on nos on both products. At the same time, I\'m not even sure I would blindly buy into the theory that mowing, assuming it has some impact, necessarily favors frontrunners. Interesting Q champ, & one I hope someone out there has more concrete data and/or insight on than I do.