Del Mar to stick with Polytrack regardless of whether Santa Anita goes to dirt
DiscreetCat
Moderator
from the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Santa Anita may revert to dirt. But Del Mar remains sympathetic to synthetic.
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club President and CEO Joe Harper said yesterday that while Santa Anita appears likely to end its forced engineered-surface era after three years, such a move isnt even up for consideration at Del Mar.
Absolutely not, Harper said. We put the (Polytrack) in because we thought it would be better for the safety of the horses and riders. And every study done says that thinking is right.
Harper cited data compiled by California Equine Medical Director Dr. Rick M. Arthur and by the Equibase Company through race meetings last November in a recent report, Engineered Surface Safety Findings. The statistics indicated:
Main track racing fatalities at Del Mar declined from 2.47 per 1,000 starts on the dirt surface from 2004-2006 to 1.65 per 1,000 on Polytrack from 2007-2009.
Main track racing fatalities for major California tracks Santa Anita/Oak Tree, Hollywood Park, Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows went from 3.09 per 1,000 starts on dirt from 2004-07 to 1.68 per thousand starts on engineered surfaces from 2007-09.
Del Mar has seen reductions in career ending did not finish, annual did not finish and annual reported post-race injuries since the switch to Polytrack.
The Polytrack years have been far from trouble-free, Harper acknowledged.
But were going with the data that we have, and to go back to dirt for us would be going back to a higher rate of injuries and fatalities, Harper said.
The 2010 Del Mar meeting opens July 21 and continues through Sept. 8.
Santa Anita President Ron Charles announced Monday that the Pro-Ride manufactured surface at the Arcadia racetrack would be removed at the conclusion of the current meeting, which ends April 19, and a return to the dirt surface would be considered very seriously.
In accordance with a California Horse Racing Board mandate of 2006 that all major tracks in the state go to synthetic surfaces, Santa Anita, after more than seven decades with a dirt main track, installed the Cushion Track brand in 2007.
Heavy rains and resultant drainage problems resulted in a double-figure loss of racing days by the midpoint of the 2008 meeting. Subsequent changes in the surface made it a hybrid of Cushion Track and Pro-Ride for the latter part of that meeting and a purer form of Pro-Ride, an Australian product, since. Santa Anita hosted the two-day, 14-race, $25 million Breeders Cup event in 2008 and again last fall with no horse fatalities or major breakdowns.
But the tracks failure to handle recent downpours, which resulted in closure for morning training and cancellation of Mondays scheduled holiday card, were apparently the final synthetic straw.
On balance, the Pro-Ride has performed well, Charles said. We have had a very safe meet thus far and of course, we had two tremendous Breeders Cups here at Oak Tree on Pro-Ride. The problem is, it just isnt draining properly.
The return to dirt, which requires a waiver from the CHRB that figures to be easily obtained, appeared to be met with an overall favorable response from trainers many of whom have become less enamored with synthetics, for various reasons, after initial approval.
Trainer John Shirreffs, who has consistently voiced displeasure with synthetic surfaces even while his champion mare Zenyatta was recording 13 of her 14 victories in a perfect career over them, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that Im glad to hear it. Its wonderful if one track in California is dirt.
Santa Anita may revert to dirt. But Del Mar remains sympathetic to synthetic.
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club President and CEO Joe Harper said yesterday that while Santa Anita appears likely to end its forced engineered-surface era after three years, such a move isnt even up for consideration at Del Mar.
Absolutely not, Harper said. We put the (Polytrack) in because we thought it would be better for the safety of the horses and riders. And every study done says that thinking is right.
Harper cited data compiled by California Equine Medical Director Dr. Rick M. Arthur and by the Equibase Company through race meetings last November in a recent report, Engineered Surface Safety Findings. The statistics indicated:
Main track racing fatalities at Del Mar declined from 2.47 per 1,000 starts on the dirt surface from 2004-2006 to 1.65 per 1,000 on Polytrack from 2007-2009.
Main track racing fatalities for major California tracks Santa Anita/Oak Tree, Hollywood Park, Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows went from 3.09 per 1,000 starts on dirt from 2004-07 to 1.68 per thousand starts on engineered surfaces from 2007-09.
Del Mar has seen reductions in career ending did not finish, annual did not finish and annual reported post-race injuries since the switch to Polytrack.
The Polytrack years have been far from trouble-free, Harper acknowledged.
But were going with the data that we have, and to go back to dirt for us would be going back to a higher rate of injuries and fatalities, Harper said.
The 2010 Del Mar meeting opens July 21 and continues through Sept. 8.
Santa Anita President Ron Charles announced Monday that the Pro-Ride manufactured surface at the Arcadia racetrack would be removed at the conclusion of the current meeting, which ends April 19, and a return to the dirt surface would be considered very seriously.
In accordance with a California Horse Racing Board mandate of 2006 that all major tracks in the state go to synthetic surfaces, Santa Anita, after more than seven decades with a dirt main track, installed the Cushion Track brand in 2007.
Heavy rains and resultant drainage problems resulted in a double-figure loss of racing days by the midpoint of the 2008 meeting. Subsequent changes in the surface made it a hybrid of Cushion Track and Pro-Ride for the latter part of that meeting and a purer form of Pro-Ride, an Australian product, since. Santa Anita hosted the two-day, 14-race, $25 million Breeders Cup event in 2008 and again last fall with no horse fatalities or major breakdowns.
But the tracks failure to handle recent downpours, which resulted in closure for morning training and cancellation of Mondays scheduled holiday card, were apparently the final synthetic straw.
On balance, the Pro-Ride has performed well, Charles said. We have had a very safe meet thus far and of course, we had two tremendous Breeders Cups here at Oak Tree on Pro-Ride. The problem is, it just isnt draining properly.
The return to dirt, which requires a waiver from the CHRB that figures to be easily obtained, appeared to be met with an overall favorable response from trainers many of whom have become less enamored with synthetics, for various reasons, after initial approval.
Trainer John Shirreffs, who has consistently voiced displeasure with synthetic surfaces even while his champion mare Zenyatta was recording 13 of her 14 victories in a perfect career over them, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that Im glad to hear it. Its wonderful if one track in California is dirt.