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seriously, i think people leaped at poly, but are mismanaging it the same way they mismanaged their dirt surfaces. look at the tracks that still have dirt that are not seeing the numbers that del mar and arlington had last year. why? because they are focused on taking care of what they have, and doing it properly. installing poly won't help, if the mind set hasn't changed, and if no proper care is given the surface. |
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I hope that they start to realise what work has to be carried out so they can start to manage to surface properly, and then all the doubters would crawl back into their holes. Racing is a sport that doesn't react well to change of any kind, and it will take sometime for some people to like the poly, but it will happen. We have been racing on poly for around 5-7 years now, i think. I remember the first day Lingfield opened it's gates to the new surface and invited trainers from all parts to take part in 'trial' races. No one was quite sure how they would react to it, but the comments were amazing. "rides like a thick layer of snow" i think was one of the quotes from the jockeys, and the trainers were also as happy. It shouldn't have been an issue because these horses have been trained on poly for many years now and there are some trainers that swear by it. John Dunlop (who is one of the old school) never gallops his horses on turf, he uses the artificial surfaces instead, mostly poly and woodchip. There will be a few that will knock the poly all day long, but all i suggest to them is to come to England or at least get in contact with some of our trainers, or even the tracks themselves and get a proper opinion. |
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Arlington's is a lighter color, almost like an ocean sand from a distance. |
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Sounds like Arlington have the same style as Wolverhampton do. Probably not exact, but that is a very light colour, where as Lingfield is a much darker colour polytrack |
More on AP breakdowns
There were 3 breakdowns over the past two days and one horse had a heart attack and died instantly on the track. The two horses who broke down on Thurs are both from the Catalano/Calabrese tandem. I asked my trainer about claiming the one in the 6th race (limited races/decent beyers and breeding, coming off a win at 10 dropping to 5). He indicated that he had asked the trainer who had the horse prior to Cat/Cal who said that both knees were totally shot and that the horse was actually vanned back to the barn following its win in the previous race so we luckily passed. Don't know the backstory on the other horse that broke down Thurs other than the fact that both of these horses were claimed. The sad irony of the story is that Cat/Cal claimed the horse that broke down on Friday. Unfortunately losers all the way around.
In talking to trainers they say that the poly has led to more minor injuries in the morning than they recall from recent years. Probably leading to some of the breakdowns as some trainers have a reputation for running sore horses. |
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Bute has been used on horses since the 60's, well before the "deteration" of the breed and I would love to see evidence that Lasix causes more breakdowns. |
I didn't even know they used brute on horses. must help to control the smell.
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i say it was bad horses with problems and not the race surface.
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We talkin da real deal joe. We face you if ya got da problem. Bring it on bum.
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Four breakdowns
The sight of four horses failing to finish races in two days last week dredged up unpleasant memories of last season, when Arlington breakdowns put the track surface here under close scrutiny, but Arlington made it through Million weekend without further incident. Two horses racing Thursday on Polytrack suffered leg injuries and were pulled up and vanned off, and a third horse Friday, Carmel My Belle, broke down badly in the second race. A race later, Shake went down on the backstretch, but he was the victim of a pulmonary hemorrhage rather than a leg injury. |
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Did we cover that yet, or not? |
Just want to let some of you who dont follow racing in on whats happening with this surface.
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I sense that some of you guys cannot take change very well. Polytrack is here to stay and it is a good surface, if your tracks managed it correctly it would be altogether different.
Sure it won't be as quick as dirt, and nor will it be so harsh on horses. Get used to it, if you find it difficult to bet on, don't bet on it....... is anyone making you? Stop blaming the surface and start blaming the tracks, if they looked after it you would see a massive surface. I have seen just how good Polytrack is over the last five or so years to know that it isn't the surface causing all of these problems in America. |
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Have to say I've had very little experience with the surface though, the only time I've seen it live was when I was on a family holiday in the UK in 2005 and went out to Lingfield. But that was a totally awesome day, the track was absolutely beautiful and winners were coming from all over the place - a couple of horses led all the way, some came from the back, some burst through from midfield. And not only that, but the best horses were winning - one of the races was won by a horse called Cesare. I hope it ends up exactly the same at the US tracks. |
2 more breakdowns friday. Looks like its time for a reality check.
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