[mick]

I have slowly become enamored with Parx. The racing secretary cards a lot of dirt sprints and routes for average claimers and for me, that's where RDSS really shines. (Although The Pook recommends MVR, I can't cope with all those 1 for 45 horses. He's just a better player than I am.)

Parx runs 1 mile and 1m70yards routes, which I find curious for a one-mile oval. Why not back those races up to 8.5 furlongs? I had assumed the outside horses would be toast with the short runs to the clubhouse turn and being hung wide.

As a general question, I've always wondered why tracks card 1m40yds and 1m70yds races. Does anyone know? Is there some historic reason for it? (Like golf has 18 holes because St. Andrews had 18 holes.) Does it have to do with the configuration of the grandstands and the finish line? It's really not important but I am curious.

Now for the kicker. As I said, I thought the outside horses would be toast but the opposite is true! According to BRIS, it's posts 1-3 that are dead in those 1m70yds routes. Posts 4 and out, and especially 8 and out, have much higher win percentages and impact values. With the one mile routes where there's almost no run up to the turn, there doesn't seem to be any bias; the outside posts win as often as the other posts. Go figure.

I first noticed this when posts 8, 9 and 10 kept beating me. I was betting against them, taking the inside horses of roughly equal ability. It was an expensive lesson and I should have caught on more quickly.

I know Bill V. and RichieP like Parx. I'm sure there are others on P&C who do, too. Can anyone explain the anomaly? How is it that the outside posts at Parx, especially 8 and out, are an advantage, not a disadvantage?

mick