I know pylons are a necessary evil for one big and important reason and that is safety. Not having the hubrail has prevented countless accidents. However, having pylons instead of a hubrail has caused two major issues. Firstly, judging. There is way too much interpretation regarding the rules. Is going below one pylon OK? Is going below 2 OK if you don't advance? BLAH BLAH BLAH. Then of course you have the judges who watch horses go below 2 or 3 and don't even put up an inquiry. This was never an issue when the hubrail existed. I think it has put too much power in the hands of too many incompetent or cheating judges. Secondly, I think when the hubrail was removed and pylons were installed, it caused less movement in a race. I think subconsciously drivers used to pull earlier to get off the rail to have an escape option if the race turned ugly. There is not a worse feeling than being stuck to a real hubrail with a few horses tangled up in front of you and nowhere to go but over it. Brain surgeons like Cammie Haughton thought the passing lane restricted earlier movement so he had it removed but I have noticed absolutely no change. In fact, racing is even worse at Yonkers since that change, if you can believe that.
Good points Mike but hubrails are gone so we need to deal with it
1) you are correct-leaving decisions up to Judges is total BS
Make a universal rule that takes it out of the hands of judges
Eg you go inside 2 pylons you get placed behind the horse that lapped on to you 3 pylons and you run last. Simple effective not open to interpretation
2) not much you can do about the second point but having the starting gate leave earlier like 50 yards before the start makes races more competitive as would having a couple trailers in a few races. Mix it up. That will get movement going.
