Handicapping Feature

HANDICAPPING FEATURE

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Bruno With the Works: Who let the dogs out

by Bruno De Julio

The Dogs (d) out designation on a set of PPs is an often
overlooked handicapping factor in determining a workout’s quality on any
surface — dirt, synthetic or turf — as handicappers have to play Sherlock Holmes to
make sure they have accurate data and details to form a proper opinion.

Dogs out simply means a temporary rail or cones were placed
a distance off the inner rail to preserve a fresh strip of grass or dirt for
afternoon racing, or to allow some of the grass to get a respite from daily
pounding.

Dogs are primarily used on turf courses, but can be also be
placed on a muddy or drying out main track in an effort to save the inside part
of the track from being chewed up during morning training hours.

Dogs out is universal notation in your workout lines listed
as (d), however, the (d) does not tell you how far the dogs were out from the
rail.

In California, the inner rail may have already been placed
36 feet out, then the dogs may be another 24 to 36 feet away from the inner
rail; making the final distance about 72 feet from the actual rail.

Palm Meadows (PMM) — the very popular training center for
South Florida racing — has grass training five to six days a week; on any given
day the (d) can be placed from six feet to 120 feet out.

For handicappers to accurately assess grass works around
the dogs, they need to know how far the dogs are out. Obviously, if a horse is
traveling around the dogs set at 120 feet he would return a far slower time than
a horse traveling around the dogs set at six feet.

That’s elementary, my dear Watson.

Horse #1 worked on the turf over a period of four weeks;
training on a turf course with dogs up:

Time		Dogs out in feet
:51.70		(d) 56
1:03.30		(d) 108
1:03.00		(d) 72
:48.30		(d) 12
1:02.00		(d) 25

Horse #2 worked at similar distances over a four-week training
period, also on a turf course with dogs up:

Time		Dogs out in feet
:37.55		(d) 12
:49.55		(d) 12
:54.75		(d) 120
:54.45		(d) 120
:48.35		(d) 48

If you looked only at naked times you would be missing a
key ingredient to the works. Horse #2 twice worked around the dogs at 120 feet
and you can see how slow the times were.

I know the first question that comes to your mind is why
can’t you adjust?

Simply put: you can’t!

Trainers instruct riders to move at different speeds
through the turn depending on the distance dogs are set; horses also differ in
how they travel through a turn at different dogs placement and expend different
amounts of energy. Adjusting times cannot be done with any kind of accuracy.
Also, time doesn’t mean everything on turf — it’s how they accomplish the
move that’s important.

Horses running with the dogs set at more than 25 feet go
exponentially slower through the turn, as much as 3-plus seconds or 30-32
lengths slower. Traveling at the top of the turn, more than 100 feet out from
the inner rail can be a very taxing experience whereas traveling around the dogs
set at 25 feet or less allows horses to use centripetal force to their advantage
and accelerate through the turn, thus having faster times.

The work of horse #1 — running 1:03.30 with the dogs out
at 108 feet — was quite an achievement. Handling the extra distance and the torque
of running so high on the crown of the banked turn still put together a very
respectable time for the distance.

What if horse #1 faced a horse in the same field who showed a five-furlong work in
:58.60 (d) on the grass? The popular assessment would be that
the :58.60 work on the grass was better than 1:03.30 of horse #1; but what if
you knew that the 1:03.30 was achieved with dogs out at 120 feet, and the :58.60
work was around the dogs set at six feet? Big difference in distance covered and
most likely price on the board.

Palm Meadows is one of the few training centers in America
that offers training on grass for all levels of horses: maidens, allowance,
claiming, etc. If it has four legs and is stabled at Palm Meadows, it can work
on grass. Payson Park and Fair Hill most likely are the same. However, none of
them publish how far the dogs are out.

At Gulfstream, the situation is a little different, as only
stakes horses are allowed to train on the grass. Grass works are allowed only at
the top outer ring of the turf course, approximately 72-108 feet out from inner
rail, and may also have dogs out from that highest rail setting to make it even
a more daunting task, but that’s not all:

Jan 22, 2012 — GP 5f 1:02.90(d) Work Comment: On our watch:
55.3 from the half-mile pole to the wire in one of the easiest turf moves we’ve
ever seen with the rails out 108 feet and further outside the cones. Making this
work essentially on the outside fence; he was having fun with the rider by
switching leads every few strides because he wanted to do much more than he was
allowed. His ears were flicking back and forth and he just loped along easily to
the wire, then galloped out all the way to the 3f pole. Phenomenal.

Jan 15, 2012 — GP 5f 1:00.45(d) Work Comment: from the 5f
pole with the rails out 108 feet and further outside the cones in 26.4, 45.3,
and to the wire in 1:08.1. Came home for the final in 22.3, galloping out easily
6f on the outside fence in 1:24.3. Very nice.

These two works took place at Gulfstream Park. Note we
highlighted how far the cones were out and what was on our watch. The January 22
work we timed in :55.3 for a half-mile. Note the final time given.

Again, look at January 15 work and note our time from the
pole: :26.4, :45.3 for a half and 1:08.1 for five furlongs and out six furlongs in
1:24.3. We loved the work and how the horse did it visually. Then, look at the
official final time in one-hundredths!

The works belonged to a developing young turf horse in 2012
for Dale Romans named Little Mike, who won the Sunshine Millions Turf on January
28, 2012.

About these works on the Gulfstream Park Turf:

Feb 19, 2012 — GP 5f: 59.7b (d) Work Comment: last to work
over the lawn (about 108 feet out between the rails and the dogs): walked to the
front stretch and stood his ground (almost refusing) for several minutes before
the outrider came over and served as a tow-truck. Once he did break off from the
5f pole, it was nothing more than a leg stretching maintenance move – as the
trainer intended – on our watch in 14.1, 27, to the wire in 1:07.3, galloping
out in 1:26.1.

Jan 8, 2012 — GP 6f: 1:11b (d) Work Comment: worked five furlongs in 1:06
flat around the dogs plus rails at 72 feet. Worked well and we were sitting with
the connections. Rajiv Maragh was on board and he loved him.

The above horse referenced was Uptowncharlybrown for
trainer Eddie Coletti.

Gulfstream has a policy to adjust times using a standard
formula for grass works. A 1:06 five-furlong work was adjusted to 1:11 flat on
January 8. The February 19 work was a 1:07.3 for five furlongs adjusted to :59.7.

Now, understand, because of the slow times with horses
running so far off the inside, the works may not fit the criteria in the
Equibase Workout Databse; and may not be publishable. The system won’t accept a
six-furlong work in 1:24.3; but on the other hand adjusted times can be grossly
misleading to a horseplayer.

Here are grass tabs from Gulfstream and Palm Meadows

Pretty Fast times at Gulfstream Park on the grass. I don’t
know if the time for Dashing David from Ireland, 1:06.46 around the dogs, is
adjusted or not. I find the reported times a bit confusing.

When comparing naked times of these horses when
handicapping, the first gut instinct would be to pay close attention to the
Gulfstream Park turf works. Some of those Gulfstream Park horses worked fast, and on paper it
looked like they love the surface. How is one supposed to like a horse going
1:04.05 on the turf at Palm Meadows?

If you don’t know that one horse has an adjusted time and
the other was working around the dogs at 72 feet, a naked time with no
adjustments, you would make the wrong assumption and decision.

I am not saying that Gulfstream is wrong and Palm Meadows
does it right; all I am saying is that because the dogs/cones distance from the rail is
not disclosed publicly for every work, and turf times at Gulfstream are not
announced as adjusted, it gives the false impression to players that Palm
Meadows turf course is deep and lush while Gulfstream is fast and hard.

In reality, that couldn’t be more wrong. Palm Meadows is as
firm as any turf course I have seen. The difference is the placement of the
dogs.

The same can be said about times on the Oklahoma turf
course at Saratoga. Horseplayer must have access to dogs out each and every day
of turf works. Some horses at both Palm Meadows and Oklahoma turf at Saratoga
work inside the cones on the rail on the same day that horses are working
outside at 48 feet on a given day.

So, you could have one work in :58.4 b on the turf and the
rest would be in 1:04 range. The crews at Saratoga’s Oklahoma track and at Palm
Meadows are excellent at giving you the (d) up on the ones around the dogs. So,
the horse inside the dogs gets a :58.4 b only, the one outside the dogs receives a
1:04b (d).

One fallacy of this practice is that the horse inside the
dogs will get a bullet as the workout rankings do not differentiate between dogs
or no dogs; again, a misleading piece of information.

Again, this is no knock on anyone. Gulfstream’s works on
the turf are computer program friendly for the distance, thus, an adjustment is
made, but if taken at face value can be damaging to a horseplayer’s decision
making process. One thing I don’t understand, since I am not privy to the
formula, is how some people can rattle off splits, like :12.3, :23.4 and :34.4, on a
work on an adjusted time. Maybe I am not that smart.

Turf works can be a big mystery to some but if you get your
magnifying glass out and find the right place you can get how far the dogs were
out on a given day, you too, can say “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.”

Note: BrunoWiththeWorks and Racingwithbruno publish every
turf work with approximate distance dogs are out per each and every turf work.
Access this report daily for tracks coast to coast.