Adjustments:

Naturally, as handicapper’s, we have to make judgement calls.  Right now, the inside part of the Del Mar track is a little tough going.  So how do you handle a track condition like this.  The answer is simple, just lower the number on the Power Page by .3 to .5 – depending on your opinion of the rail.  No one knows the perfect adjustment until after all the races are run, and not necessarily even then!  Another interesting factor is the jockey colony, pretty soon the trainer’s and owner’s will be telling their jocks, “Get OFF THE RAIL”, so it will be harder to determine when the rail is starting to get back to a more normal basis.   Back in the late 1970’s at Belmont the rail got very bad and it stayed that way for years and years, even though the track crew renovated the rail frequently…  It was just plain slow going for quite a few years… My point is, that simply because they are aware the rail is slow, doesn’t necessarily mean they can fix it, but they certainly will try.

You have to keep your eye open and make adjustments.  AS for the PPN on the Power Page, I will continue to make the PPN’s as if all horses have a fair trip on a NONE-Biased track…  I make the number, you — as the handicapper — make the adjustments!