Has Keeneland Moved Its Finish Line?

[Thomas Roulston]

Watching route races at Keeneland this year, I have noticed that it is patently obvious that the distance from the finish line to the first turn is a lot longer than the original 146 feet.

It seems as if it is a full 330 feet to me.

I'm guessing that the wire was moved in 2015, before the Breeders' Cup was held there.

And if so, why does Keeneland continue to observe the sixteenth pole as the finish line in 1 1/16-mile dirt races?

Keeneland is a convex track: The straightaways are 1,320 feet long, while the turns are 1,485 feet long (see also Ellis Park, whose straightaways are also 1,320 feet long, while their turns are 1,650 feet long).

By contrast, Oaklawn is a concave track, with 1,485-foot straightaways and 1,155-foot turns - so Oaklawn's use of the sixteenth pole as the finish line for 1-mile races makes sense.

[cj]

They use an alternate finish line for 1m and 1m 1/16 races.

[Thomas Roulston]

I know that - but that doesn't mean that they couldn't have moved the finish line.

And they never ran 1-mile dirt races prior to 2015.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Thomas Roulston

I know that - but that doesn't mean that they couldn't have moved the finish line.

And they never ran 1-mile dirt races prior to 2015.

The track was remodeled when they went back to dirt, but I'd be very surprised if the finish line was changed even one inch.

They started running mile races because of the BC Dirt Mile, but it has a very long run up and uses the short finish line.

[Thomas Roulston]

There is no way that the distance from the finish line to the first turn is still 146 feet.

If you don't believe me, tomorrow's first race at Keeneland is at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt.

Just watch that race on TVG. Post time is 12:30.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Thomas Roulston

There is no way that the distance from the finish line to the first turn is still 146 feet.

If you don't believe me, tomorrow's first race at Keeneland is at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt.

Just watch that race on TVG. Post time is 12:30.

There is no way there is that short of a distance from the finish line to the first turn. That would be less than 50 yards. It was never that short, ever, no matter where it happens to have said that. It has to be longer than that or it would be chaos going into the turn.

I opened up Google Earth and measured it. I don't know what is considered the start of the turn, but I stopped right about where the bend begins. I watched a race to estimate the finish line and I'm confident I'm close using the "Keeneland" bush as a guide. Google Earth measured it at 113.68 meters, which converts to ~373 feet. Of course that makes a lot more sense.

You really should learn to use Google Earth since you seem so interested in the layout of tracks. It could answer a lot of your questions before you post some of the wild stuff you do here.

[Thomas Roulston]

I just assumed that the information contained in the American Racing Manual was accurate.

Maybe I should stop believing that - but the question remains: Why should 1 1/16-mile races at Keeneland use an alternate finish line, when 1 1/8-mile (dirt) races at Aqueduct, which have essentially the same run to a turn of the same length, never have?

[alhattab]

Originally Posted by Thomas Roulston

I just assumed that the information contained in the American Racing Manual was accurate.

Maybe I should stop believing that - but the question remains: Why should 1 1/16-mile races at Keeneland use an alternate finish line, when 1 1/8-mile (dirt) races at Aqueduct, which have essentially the same run to a turn of the same length, never have?

My guess is because the actual distance would be closer to 1 1/8 miles than 1 1/16 miles. The run up for mile races is 190 feet and they would use the same start if the “start” finish was at the normal finish line

[Thomas Roulston]

The run-up for 1-mile dirt races at Santa Anita is 172 feet - and for 1-mile dirt races at Del Mar, 220 feet.

Why don't they just label those races at Del Mar as 1m70y, with a run-up of 10 feet?