Track Trends

NYRA handicapper, Andy Serling, provides daily analysis of track trends and conditions at beautiful Belmont Park in an attempt to share his thoughts and insights into any possible track biases. This can be a helpful resource for handicappers as track conditions can change from one day to the next.

Saratoga Track Trends Aqueduct Track Trends

Sunday, July 10

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 6 to 10 MPH NW

All courses, turf and dirt, played fairly.

Saturday, July 9

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 6 to 8 MPH WSW to NW

The Main Track played fairly. The rails were still out 27 feet on the Widener and the course played fairly. The rails were down on the Inner for the first time since Belmont Stakes week and saving ground was likely an advantage.

Friday, July 8

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 6 to 8 MPH NE

The courses, dirt and turf, likely played fairly with the results being more about race dynamics than any kind of bias.

Monday, July 4

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 4 to 8 MPH NW to NE

All surfaces, turf and dirt, appeared to play fairly.

Sunday, July 3

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 4 to 6 MPH SE to NE

All courses, turf and dirt, appeared to play fairly.

Saturday, July 2

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 7 to 9 MPH NE

The rail was good on the Main Track but not a clear advantage. Thie Inner Turf played fairly. Both races on the Widener were wired by inside speed. Probably random but worth following going forward.

Friday, July 1

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 10 to 13 MPH NE

The rail appeared to be an advantage on the Main Track. Worth following. The Widener played fairly. Both races on the Inner were dominated by horses that saved ground. Not clear this was a bias but worth mentioning.

Thursday, June 30

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 7 to 10 MPH NE to NNE

All courses, turf and dirt, appeared to play fairly. The rails were down to zero on the Widener for the first time since Belmont Stakes week ( 6/12 ) but the course did not see to be biased.

Sunday, June 26

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 9 TO 14 MPH NNE

All courses, turf and dirt, played fairly.

Saturday, June 25

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 5 to 9 MPH East to North

All courses, turf and dirt, played fairly.

Friday, June 24

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 7 to 11 MPH North

All surfaces, turf and dirt, appeared to play fairly.

Thursday, June 23

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 7 MPH NW

All courses, turf and dirt, appeared to play fairly. The rails were moved out 18 feet on the Inner mitigating any bias from the prior week.

Sunday, June 19

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 14 MPH SE

Speed, or forwardly placed, horses dominated the dirt races. Might have been situational as the results were at least reasonably logical. The Widener Turf played fairly with outside closers continuing to do well on the Inner Turf.

Saturday, June 18

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 14 to 16 MPH SE

The Main Track played fairly with outside runners seeming to perform best. Likely situational more than anything else. The Widener played fairly. The Inner remains slower than the Widener and there continues to be an argument that outside movers did best. We have seen slow paces in the 8.5F races where closers have dominated which is contra to the norm for this course. Worth thinking about at the very least.

Friday, June 17

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 12 MPH NE to SE

The Main Track played fairly. The Widener seemed fair. Inside runners did well but it’s not clear it was a significant advantage. The Inner Turf had a little more give to it than the Widener and there was no apparent bias though rallying outside may have been an advantage.

Thursday, June 16

Fast / Firm

Cloudy

Wind 13 to 15 MPH North

The rail was likely an advantage on the Main Track, but there are exceptions to this which means the track was more on the fair side. As always worth following. The Widener Turf was Firm and the two races played fairly. The Inner Turf, while labeled Firm, was likely closer to Good. Outside runners dominated both races on the Inner, with logical horses underperforming inside. Perhaps you were better off outside on the Inner. This, too, is worth following.

Sunday, June 12

Good / Good

Mild Showers Early - cleared after

Wind 10 MPH NNW

Inside speed did well but with a lot of logical results, the Main Track was likely fair. There was one turf race on each course making it hard to say the courses were anything other than fair.

Saturday, June 11 - Belmont Stakes Day

Fast / Firm

Cloudy

Wind 4 to 7 MPH SW to NE to NW

The first two or three races on the Main Track ( races 1-3 ) appeared to have a significant rail bias, with inside runners, and not just speeds, dominating and outside runners seemingly spinning their wheels. After that, beginiing with the 5^th race, the Main Track played fairly. It questions whether or not the first couple of races were a bit of an illusion but it's worth monitoring runners from those races going forward. The turf courses appeared to play fairly.

Friday, June 10

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 8 MPH East

Speed did well on the Main Track, but it seemed situational, with many logical results, making it hard to say there was a bias. The rails were down on both turf courses for the first time this meet. Arguably it was good to be inside, but not as strong a bias as we have seen under these conditions in years past. Mostly the turf courses played fairly.

Thursday, June 9

Fast / Yielding

Clear

Wind 15 to 11 MPH NE to SE

Despite close to an inch of rain overnight, the Main Track was fast, and it played fairly. There was one race on the Widener, which was probably closer to Good than Yielding. Two races on the Yielding Inner Turf. Both courses likely played fairly.

Sunday, June 5

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 3 to 7 MPH NW to NE

All courses, turf and dirt, played fairly.

Saturday, June 4

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 8 to 11 MPH NNE

Forward horses did well on the dirt, for the most part, but hard to say the course was at all biased. The turf courses played fairly. They were listed as Firm but were clearly closer to Good.

Friday, June 3

Sloppy ( sealed ) 1-2; Muddy (sealed ) / Yielding

Clear

Wind 4 to 7 MPH NW to SW to NW

Speed won 6 of the 7 dirt races with the rail appearing to be a distinct advantage. There was one turf race on each course, with the courses on the Good side of Yielding, and they appeared to play fairly but hard to know for sure.

Thursday, June 2

Muddy ( sealed ) 1,2,4; Sloppy ( sealed ) 5-9 / Yielding ( 3^rd )

Rain midday

Wind 5 to 7 MPH NW

The Main Track was Muddy through the first four races until the heavy rain hit. Those races played out fairly. After the rain, 5-9, speed did well but likely it was situational. The rail was good if not an advantage. The one turf race, on the Widener, played out fairly. While listed as Yielding, it was on the Good side of Firm.

Monday, May 30

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 8 to 11 MPH NE

All courses, dirt and turf, played fairly.

Sunday, May 29

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 4 to 8 MPH North

While speed pretty much dominated the dirt races, it's far from clear there was any bias, and the rail didn't seem to be an advantage. Three of the winners were well out in the track, at least in the stretch. The turf courses played fairly.

Saturday, May 28

Fast / Firm

Cloudy

Wind 7 to 10 MPH NE to SE

Despite some rain the night before and mild showers early in the day, the track was dry, and the turf was firm. All courses appeared to play fairly with mostly relatively logical results throughout the day.

Friday, May 27

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 10 to 14 MPH North

The rail was a big advantage on the Main Track. The two sprints on the Inner Turf were won wire to wire but it could have been circumstantial. Both races on the Widener were won by closers but likely the course was fair.

Sunday, May 22

Fast / Good

Clear

Wind 8 to 11 MPH NE

All courses, turf and dirt, played fairly. The turf had dried considerably since Saturday's races.

Saturday, May 21

Fast / Yielding

Clear

Wind 5 to 9 MPH NE

The Main Track played fairly. The turf races played out fairly but, given the conditions, it's fair to consider that some horses probably had trouble handling the wet turf ( there was rain following the races on Friday.)

Friday, May 20

Fast / Good

Cloudy

Wind 9 to 12 MPH NW

All courses, turf and dirt, played fairly.

Thursday, May 19

Sloppy ( sealed ) / Off

Cloudy

Wind 5 MPH NE to NW

Speed dominated, but most results were relatively logical, so it's not clear it was a strong bias. Most of the running was done at least a few paths off the rail and it was probably an advantage to be off the inside.

Sunday, May 15

Good ( 1&3 ) Fast ( 6&8 ) / Good

Clear

Wind 6 to 10 MPH NE

All courses, turf and dirt, played fairly.

Saturday, May 14

Fast ( 1, 3, 5 ) Good ( sealed ) 7&9 / Firm

Showers

Wind 8 to 5 MPH NW

Rain during the day changed the tracks, especially the turf, as while it was listed Firm, it slowed down quite a bit starting with the 6^th race. With only two races on the Main Track after it was sealed, it's hard to say there was a bias, and over all the dirt played fairly, as did the turf courses.

Friday, May 13

Fast / Firm

Cloudy

Wind 7 to 9 MPH SW to NW

The rail was good on the Main Track, though not likely an advantage, as the dirt races played fairly. The turf courses also appeared to play fairly.

Thursday, May 12

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 6 MPH NW

The Main Track appeared to play fairly, while the times were very much on the slow side. The turf courses also appeared fair.

Sunday, May 8

Muddy ( sealed ) / Off

Cloudy

Wind 15 to 12 MPH SW

While most of the running was done off the rail, some horses did well at least close to the inside, but possibly best at least a little off the inside. Worth following going forward.

Saturday, May 7

Sloppy ( sealed ) / Yielding

Rainy

Wind 18 to 15 MPH SW

Speed did well on the Main Track, but it was arguably situational, as most results were logical and horses made effective runs from behind. A lot of the best running was done outside but horses did well inside. Overall, despite the adverse conditions, the track was fair. Both turf races were run on the Inner Turf. With the rails out 35 feet, the running was done well out in the course. While listed as Yielding, the course was probably Heavy given the final times. Speed won both races ( on a heavy favorite and the other 10:1 ). I wouldn't make much of this, as we rarely run under these conditions, and likely many didn't handle the going.

Friday, May 6

Fast ( 1-2 ) Good ( sealed ) 4&6; Sloppy ( sealed ) 7-9 / Firm ( 3&5 )

Rainy

Wind 4 to 8 MPH WNW

Even with the track changing dramatically during the day, we saw logical results throughout, and a likely fair track. The rail was good even as the track got wetter. We ran one race on each turf course and each played out fairly.

Thursday, May 5

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 4 MPH SE to NNE

The rail was good on the Main Track but not a clear advantage as, overall, the track played fairly. The rails were at 18 feet and 35 feet on the Widener and Inner Turf respectively. Both courses appeared to play fairly.

Sunday, May 1

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 7 to 9 MPH NNW

There is a strong argument the rail was an advantage on the Main Track. Both turf courses appeared to play fairly.

Saturday, April 30

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 8 to 5 MPH SE

There is an argument the rail was good, if not a clear advantage, on the Main Track. Possible to close outside however, but being inside was likely helpful. The turf courses played fairly.

Friday, April 29

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 15 to 13 MPH SE

The wind was not as severe as Thursday. There is an argument the rail was an advantage on the Main Track but in many ways it may have been situational. Worth following going forward. With only three turf races, it's hard to say there was any bias. The courses likely played fairly.

Thursday, April 28

Fast / Firm

Clear

Wind 17 MPH SE

There was a strong headwind down the backstretch. The early fractions may have appeared slow but it was wind related. The inside was good, though no apparent advantage, as the races played out fairly on both the Main Track and the two turf courses.

Previous Years' Track Trends:

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