I can fully appreciate that sentiment. Thanks.

We'll see what happens at the Santa Anita Breeders Cup day ....

The Euros will win all 11 BC races.

I was just thinking the same thing sniper. If grass translates we are in deep ****

I wonder if they'll ship over from Asia too with the easy flight to CA.

American racing is dirt speed. You take that out of the equation and we will be in deep trouble come BC time

Tapit may have been mentioned in the same breath as Ghostzapper if poly was down a few years ago

That's being a little presumptious. Nashoba's Key is a virtual lock on cushion. There are plenty of American horses that are benefiting from the artificial stuff.

Against Balance or against the best in Europe? She'll face horses that could run circles around Balance in the BC next year.

I can only speak of today but there were two 'vanned off' horses the 2nd of which was already dead when loaded. NEITHER broke down. The first looked to have either had heat stroke or a real stroke (Carmel My Belle a 10K MdClm) and the other died on the track of a heart attack. Hardly the blame of poly.......Not pretty to see though. We had our 4rth day of plus 90 degrees with humidity off the charts. I'd blame that......

weather right now isn't fit for man or beast. it's miserable out there.


as for track substance--no perfect solution. people are trying to find the best thing--whether poly is it, i don't know.

I'll 2nd that... being out in it all day tomorrow isn't a good thing... and the givaway tomorrow is a cotton fleece. 100+ heat index and they're giving away winter clothes.

They do a giveaway on a day that is already drawing high attendance?

I'll count my lucky stars tomorrow when we have low 80's and sun. :)

They normally do something on Million day and Million Preview day. Normally it's a hat on Million day (have done an NTRA mystery voucher giveaway then too in the past).

They gave out folding camping chairs in a bag, even with cupholders, on July 4th (which is normally a big day for them too due to the biggest fireworks display in Chicago on the 4th... downtown's is always the 3rd).

Any breakdown on poly needs a thorough investigation. Are pre race physicals sufficient ? Are the same trainers sending out the victimized horses ? Find the facts. Then meat out the punishment if appropriate.

that would involve the FCC-Catman duo. Not in this lifetime.

LOL. you got that right

Are you making up these numbers? Or are you seeing mytical horses breakdown in your mind. There was two yesterday and one today, a second horse today died of a heart attack.....I know the exact number of break downs this year and it is far less then this time last year.


Now is we could clean this sport up and improve the breed while banning all forms of steriods especially with the yearlings and 2 year olds going to auction, along with brute and lasix there would be far less breakdowns all together everywhere.

I assume you feel the same about any injuries or breakdowns that occur on turf or dirt.

Dr. Mary Scollay has started a national injury reporting system this year (for any track, not just synthetic), and I believe the CA tracks are participating.

Rain on the poly does make the track fast, and it's up to the track how fast they want it, not the weather conditions. If Arlington has had a lot of rain (which it looks like it has) the track will tighten up and could become lightning fast IF not much is done with it. Over here, if we have had a lot of rain on the poly, what we call a Clerk Of The Course will walk the track and identify if he/she thinks the surface is TOO fast for the horses. If so, they will arrange to have it harrowed slightly deeper than normal, allowing the rain water to soak through to the harcore/drainage underneath more quickly.

If poly is managed peoperly, it can be the best surface in the world, but just like any man made substance, put it in the wrong hands and things can change very quickly. I can't be sure, but after hearing about Turfway, i'd guess these tracks just aren't doing enough to make sure they are safe. Yes, it means hard work quite often, but if these tracks are prepared to take brake downs over hard work they don't deserve to be running a horse racing event.

the term "all-weather" is becoming a bit far fetched now. We have found that snow is probably the worst weather condition for poly. Heavy snow will lay on poly easily and create a freezing layer on top. Depending on how heavy the small fall is there can be very little you can do about it. This happened at Wolverhampton back in the winter, but even harrowing after every race wasn't doing the trick. Horses were coming back with frozen poly stuck in their hooves, and jockeys had complained of getting hit with what felt like rocks, when it was just the frozen poly getting kicked back.

Freezing temperatures are not ideal for poly, but there is no reason to believe that heat will cause any problems. Intense heat may mean the tracks might want to put some water on beforehand, but nothing else.

I'd be interested to know whether any of you guys know which 'blend' of polytrack each of these tracks have got. As far as i know there about 5 or 6 different blends available now, all slightly different in consistancy.

The best i have seen is at Lingfield, which rarely has any problems whatsoever, their blend is a much darker colour to look at.

The answer is yes to both questions. He has a single agenda, bash polytrack at every opportunity, and facts do not get in his way.

My question is, does Polytrack itself, when exposed to very hot weather, retain heat to a greater extent than dirt?

I would think that when we see dirt tracks watered on warmer days, that in addition to keeping the dust down, the secondary effect is some release of heat.

I would guess that the physical temperature of Polytrack is higher given its makeup. That could certainly lead to more ontrack trauma.

Anyone know? Where's Quincy when we need him?