Should Belmont Join the Alternate Finish Line Crowd?
 

I say they should - both for 5 and 5 1/2-furlong baby races, and races at 1 1/4 miles.

For these races, the finish line should be moved 1/8 of a mile further down the stretch.

This was actually suggested the last time the Breeders' Cup was held at Belmont.

Sprint races would start on the far turn if this were implemented, automatically giving the inside posts a huge advantage.

Do what they do at Longchamp for their sprint races have the finishline on the backstretch. It's about 5 furlongs from the 9f start to the turn isnt it?

The general reason why you don't move your finish line around is that it's bad for the fans in person, and for the jockeys. Back when Hollywood had two finish lines, the fans used to crack jokes about it in the grandstand. And jockeys complained about it, because they had to remember which finish line was operative and not misjudge it.

I suppose in this simulcast era, the fans are less of an issue. But the jockeys still are one. I don't see why it's a big need at Belmont anyway. NYRA has never been shy about starting races on turns (even at Aqueduct where they really shouldn't do it), and with Belmont's wide turns, it's not a big deal.

Normally when you are using alternate finish lines, you are running distances that probably shouldn't be carded at those tracks in my opinion.

Right. "Alternate finish line" is often a synonym for "super short run into the first turn". :)

I can just imagine the times that would be posted! :rolleyes:

The 1 1/4 yes - but why in the heck are you moving short races closer to the turn? 6 furlong races already do not back up past the finish line on the backstretch.

Given what to my observation has been an obsession with long stretch runs, you might be better served to pull up your Google maps and figure out what tracks have the real estate past the far turn to install a long straight course.

Or you could just bet Redcar in the UK whenever they run: ;)

OMG. You need to bring a telescope to that track!

The link below shows the current track configuration at Belmont. Moving the starting line for the shorter races would be nuts.

https://gettingoutofthegate.com/belmont-park/

My bad. Moving the finish line for 5 and 5 1/2-furlong races further down the stretch would be a bad idea.

But you have to understand that I suffered a traumatic brain injury from a fall in December of 2014 that put me in the hospital for two months - the first month in a medically-induced coma - resulting in my being placed on SSDI in November of 2019.