Saratoga: Steward halts betting early by mistake

[VOL JACK]

http://www.drf.com/news/saratoga-ste...-early-mistake

I know everyone was trying to get down on Rosie in the last.
Since she has been white hot on the grass.

I'm not real sure why the Stewards would need to be watching other tracks.

[Bigsmc]

The first thing to cross my mind is why is a human pushing a button to close betting? This is 2012, there must technology out there to handle this chore.

The second thing to cross my mind a millisecond later, if said human made that mistake which seems somewhat harmless on the surface, how many times has he pushed the button late?

Finally, if you are relying on this person for pool integrity, why is he not sequestered in a room with nothing but binoculars and a button?

If this is what NYRA, the leader of east coast racing has going on, one can only imagine what is happening at the Penn Nationals, Thistledowns and Ellis's of the world.

[iamthelurker]

Its a New York State Racing and Wagering Board screw up it has nothing to do with NYRA.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by iamthelurker

Its a New York State Racing and Wagering Board screw up it has nothing to do with NYRA.

Not the point of my post. I was pointing out that if this is happening at a NYRA track, one can only imagine what is happening at a "lesser" track.

I don't care who is to blame (NYRA, NSRWB or any other entitiy), pool integrity is a major issue. When these things happen every so often, there is a minor uproar for a day or two and the issue just fades away.

The Lasix witch hunt rages on, but pool integrity is stuck in 1970s technology.

[golfer]

Originally Posted by Bigsmc

The first thing to cross my mind is why is a human pushing a button to close betting? This is 2012, there must technology out there to handle this chore.

The second thing to cross my mind a millisecond later, if said human made that mistake which seems somewhat harmless on the surface, how many times has he pushed the button late?

Finally, if you are relying on this person for pool integrity, why is he not sequestered in a room with nothing but binoculars and a button?

If this is what NYRA, the leader of east coast racing has going on, one can only imagine what is happening at the Penn Nationals, Thistledowns and Ellis's of the world.

I agree completely with this. In fact, it's as if I wrote this myself. Closing the pools 2 minutes early is not a major problem. EVERYTHING else about what may have happened here, and the systems still being used to close the betting pools, is.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by golfer

I agree completely with this. In fact, it's as if I wrote this myself. Closing the pools 2 minutes early is not a major problem. EVERYTHING else about what may have happened here, and the systems still being used to close the betting pools, is.

I think there is a built in "close pools" signal and the human is a back up...or in this case a front up. I could be wrong though. I still would love to know which track he was watching that he thought was Saratoga.

[golfer]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

I think there is a built in "close pools" signal and the human is a back up...or in this case a front up. I could be wrong though. I still would love to know which track he was watching that he thought was Saratoga.

Well there's the point, what the HELL was going on up there? And we don't know exactly what the system is to close the pools, just as we don't know exactly how Amtote co-mingles the wagers. I'm still reeling from finding out last year that they don't co-mingle the pick 4 wagers until AFTER the 1st leg is completed

With all the money at stake, there is WAY too much we just take for granted, who knows what truly goes on.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

I could be wrong though. I still would love to know which track he was watching that he thought was Saratoga.

With how long the Saratoga cards have been running and Del Mar dark on Monday, it probably had to be a harness track.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

With how long the Saratoga cards have been running and Del Mar dark on Monday, it probably had to be a harness track.

The only track running at the time was Ruidoso. They had a race at 7.5f on the dirt (two turn) with an official off time of 1 minute prior. It had to be that one, which is still pretty sad but better than it being a harness race I guess.

[cmorioles]

Well, that is one way to get fixed odds. What a tool. I could watch horses breaking from any gate in North America and probably identify it. This guy only has to be familiar with one.