Zayat is Leaving; Baffert hates it
 

Zayat says he's leaving grounds
By JAY PRIVMAN
DEL MAR, Calif. - The debate over the merits and consistency of Del Mar's new Polytrack surface reached a new level of discourse on Monday morning when prominent horse owner Ahmed Zayat and Del Mar's president Joe Harper got into an animated, and at times profane, discussion near the stable area racing office that abruptly ended with Zayat saying he was going to immediately remove his horses from the grounds.

Zayat, who has most of his horses here with trainer Bob Baffert, had minutes earlier been expressing his concern over the consistency of the track. Baffert, Zayat, and several trainers have said Polytrack is firm in the morning, when coastal fog keeps temperatures mild, but loose and tiring in the afternoon, when the sun beats down on the surface.

When Harper walked by, Zayat asked to talk with him, with several onlookers nearby, including Baffert and prominent breeder John Sikura. But what began as a civil exchange over the approach toward maintaining the surface grew heated.

Zayat essentially wanted Harper to promise to tighten the track in the afternoon, perhaps by watering it. Harper said he was not going to go against the advice of Martin Collins, the company that installed Polytrack before this year's meet, which instructed Del Mar not to water the surface.

"I won't mess with it until after the meet is over," Harper said.

Zayat said: "I've heard what I need to hear. I'm not staying here. Goodbye."

Then he briskly turned and walked away.

"There's 300 trainers here coming up and saying they like it," Harper said minutes later. "Nobody wants to see this succeed more than the guy who invented it. We can't have 20 deaths like we did last year. We'll be out of business."

Zayat said he had between 25 and 30 horses currently stabled at Del Mar, with approximately three times that many at Saratoga. Before his discussion with Harper, Zayat said he had been planning on spending the summer at Del Mar because he preferred the atmosphere here.

"People who say they are behind these artificial surfaces say they doing it for safety, but they cannot be holier than the Pope," Zayat said. "The tracks have to be consistent. You can't have different tracks and say it's safe and fair. It's the epitome of hypocrisy."

Zayat said he was of the belief that "what distinguishes American racing is speed," but that Polytrack was "artificially slowing down" brilliant horses. "The way the Thoroughbred runs is so majestic," he said. "Why are we doing this?

"No one is against safety," Zayat added. "But what is the right surface? I'm totally supportive of synthetic surfaces. But you need a surface that is both safe and maintains the integrity of racing. You can't take the speed out."

Harper said the slew of horse deaths last summer at Del Mar and Arlington Park - which also installed Polytrack earlier this year - would "make us the Michael Vick of horse racing" if the tracks had not made a change.

"This is a safety issue for us," Harper said. "I'd love to see the track tighten up in the afternoon. Do we need more wax? That's possible. Do we need more fiber? That's possible. Do we need jelly cables? That's possible.

"The bottom line is all the horses are coming back" from the races in one piece, Harper said.
________

Baffert slumping

Baffert was the leading trainer at this track from 1997 to 2003, and was third last year, but through the first 11 days of this meet, he was 1 for 20.

On Sunday, his previously unbeaten 3-year-old colt E Z Warrior, owned by Zayat, stumbled at the start of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Handicap and finished eighth in the field of nine as the favorite.

"Luckily he didn't grab himself," Baffert said Monday. "It's frustrating for me not to have the same track in the afternoon that we train on in the morning. It's good to train on in the morning. It's firm. In the afternoon, it's different. I've got a few that love it, but the rest can't get over it."

Baffert's lone winner through Sunday's card was the promising 2-year-old Vindication filly More Happy, who scored a debut win the first weekend of the season. But Baffert said she would not run back at the meet.

"She struggled," said Baffert, who said More Happy had come out of the race fine. "This track, in the Bing Crosby, good sprinters went six furlongs in 1:11. What am I supposed to do here? Teach my 2-year-olds not to break and come running?"

Here, guys - have a little cheese with that whine :)

Sound like sour grapes to me to.

Looks like he declared Jihad on Del Mar.

That track ain't right

I'm not a big fan of the Poly surface. The Cushion surface at Hollywood seemed much more like dirt racing, in both appearance and performance. The times were faster than Poly, yet the horses come out of the races fine.

I wil probably give up horse racing when Churchill goes poly

Amazing how some of the other trainers have figured it out..Baffert numbers have been fading well before poly came along.

Big baby!

What a jackass.

this track is crap . and this is not sour grapes on my part I am having a pretty good meet . this doesnt resemble any racing that I know of thank god del mar is such a short meet I think so far suchion track is the better surface I can understand the complaint about day/night that has to stress out a trainer who has all those expensive horses .Bordanero is miles a better horse than that nag that beat yeaterday on any other surface it took all i could to not bet him at the price yestrday cuz i knew in the end the surface was gonna get him and it did what a shame.

Thing is, Zayat is correct. Just look at Turfway, Collins told them not to water it, but after gobs and gobs of carpet flying in the air and into horses' throats, Turfway brought out the water trucks.

The wrinkle here that I don't get is Collins' refusal to accept that it needs water. At Turfway, I understood his position, since he and Keeneland were selling the stuff as "low maintenance". Paying the water truck drivers wasn't gonna drive down the cost of maintenance. In this case however, it doesn't matter. Poly is statutorily mandated, pour the water to it.

I heard an interview with Martin Collins....talk about empty salesmanship.

That guy left the impression of a greedy crook.

I agree, I hope if and when Churchill and NYRA tracks think about Synthetic surfaces they take a long look at Cushion track. The JUNK that Kee., Arl. Park, and Del Mar have is killing early speed. People can talk about big fields and big payoffs all they want but when the results are completly random why does it matter.

Vets scoping horses at Turfway found that there was a whole lot less "stuff" in the trachea and large airways compared to when the track was dirt. The particles of Poly are too big, much larger than the particles available on dirt/sand tracks. The number of eye injuries (from clods kicked back into the horses face during a race) dropped to close to zero.

Buh bye Zayat. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.

I'm certainly not an expert on any of these different synthetic surfaces, but as I've said before I used to love to bet keeneland, but not after the fall and spring meet. I don't bet much left coast racing, so wagering wise it hasn't affected me. The bottom line is I really haven't heard much good about synthetic surfaces. I dread the day this arrives to Churchill or any of the NY tracks. I credit Zayat for speaking his mind.

In college, I did a few projects on Polytrack, before it was ever installed in any track besides the Keeneland Training track. One of the big 'sells' of it, was that it would save the tracks something like $400,000 per year on maintenance fees. I think that is a reason Martin Collins does not want to admit it needs to be watered, because then that selling point would be mute.

Also at this past year's Arizona Symposium, all the artificial surface guys were out in full force, and let me tell ya, Polytrack was by far the WORSE surface out of all of them.

I held a few different kind of surfaces, and my favorite was Cushion, when you picked it up, it did not bulk up into a snowball like Poly did. It was consistant and looked like a good surface. Polytrack was sooo clumpy and disgusting that it wouldnt even come off my hands unless I scrubbed them. It just left my hands grimey and full of wax/sand. It clumped up and was so messy. No good IMO. Tapeta was good and the fourth brand which name is excaping me was good also. Polytrack definatley had the most problems.

I really think the tracks made a mistake by going with Polytrack instead of the other surfaces. Polytrack was the first to really market itself, and with Keenelands backing (they own 50 percent of the American product) and the fact that other UK tracks had used it, the US tracks decided to buy it.

Now since the tracks spent 8-10 million dollars to install it, they have to promote it.

I feel like if the tracks went with Cushion instead, we would not hear the complaining that we are getting with Poly.

Silly Bob. Has to train different now, what a shame.:cool:

This is really a tough situation.

What I hear from people who work, train and ride on the track is that the track feels great and it definitely has a positive long range effect on the horses health.

That being said no one likes racing on it. The consistency, while softer then dirt is just not there.

From a handicapping perspective it has totally eliminated speed from your handicapping assessment. It also you leaves you guessing as to who will close the best, not who is the best horse. It has not been very fun to bet these races at any condition level. Maybe the best horses are winning but picking them is close to random.

Obviously Zayat hears from baffert how bad this stuff is. I also noticed John Sherriffs has not run many and elected to run AP Xcellent on the turf because speed is getting killed on poly routes. Its not good when the top barns decide to forgo Del Mar.

I said it before they ran they made a critical mistake installing Poly over the more versatile Cushion Track.

Generally speaking, I am a proponent of the artificial surfaces if they improve the safety of the horse. However, the Polytrack races that I have recently watched at DelMar, with the dreadfully slow paces and finishing times (I watched an open one mile NW2X go in 1:41+ on Sunday), are not particularly appealing.

That being said, aren't these complaints being made by the same trainer that recently intimated that he wouldn't know how to keep a horse together without steroids? Consider the source.

Don't let your feelings for Baffert steer u away from the point he was trying to make. As 10pnt just mentioned, he knows others and they don't like racing on it. Shirreffs is running on the grass and may stay away from the $1 million Pacific Classic. I know of others that have said they hate it or have complained about it's consistency the same way Baffert has.

What I also found interesting was Baffert's comments about his 2yo's. At this time of year, sprinting is the game for 2yo's. U want them to be quick out of the gate and fast around the track. Teaching them to route comes later as the distances stretch out. If speed is something that u don't want your horses to have on this track, why even run your 2yo's? It's also not just a 2yo thing. In this country, we run what, about 70% of the races at 6f and under? Speed is very important in America. If u are going to use tracks that make speed irrelevant then I think u are doing the wrong thing.

The track is a joke, Turfway was a joke in the winter, its not all weather. It is really a disgrace

Zayat leaving, taking 25 horses to Saratoga
 

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports...s31delmar.html

Good for saratoga I guess.....

Who has said this? (aside from Baffert)

If the SOSD article is true, then Joe Harper needs to resign.

We need to hear from people on the backstretch, riding horses over it - Honu?

One person I talked to works horses for John Sherriffs and also rides them in the afternoon so he has felt it at both times of the day.

Sherriffs in a DRF article yesterday said "I dont want to comment on the track but we are running ap xcellent on the grass as speed is not doing well on the main track"....

mind you this would have been one of the favorites in a million dollar race in a few weeks.

Over what?

For being dumb enough to swear loudly at an owner in public. He's CEO of a decent size company. The fact that it's a racetrack doesn't make his bad judgement and actions tolerable.

I have long been a fan of Polytrack, but Cushion tracks sure does seem to be better than Poly. Keep in mind, I have never seen Cushion or walked on it or know anyone who has raced over it. I have done all the above on Poly. I can say that the two horses that I have raced on Poly are in good physical shape. The massive kickback at Turfway appears not to have any ill effects on the horses that I have. I think that Baffert and Zayat have a legitimate gripe. They buy and train speed horses and Poly isnt for the speed type. To me, it doesnt matter what time the horse runs; it only matter than each horses comes back safely. A 3-1 shot pays $8 bucks if he/she runs 6 furlongs in 1:08 or 1:12 and wins. So why does time matter????

100% agree on Zayat..I wonder how long it will take for Baffert to start crying about the Saratoga track..

Maybe Zayat should give his horses to Peter Miller...

Because this stuff was untested under these conditions. But that's not even the problem. The problem comes in not being able to see that there are issues that need to be dealt with and then dealing with them. If u see that adjustements need to be made, then u make them immediately. For him to sit there and say the they will do nothing to the track and address everything AFTER the meet is irresponsible, IMO.

The yearlings that Baffert bought for Zayat in the fall of 2006, now 2 yr olds, should have been thought out for style of racing. Team Baffert should have known they werent running on the 405 Freeways formerly known as SA and HP. The decision from the CHRB to change tracks was announced in Feb 2006 not yesterday.

Didnt hear any complaints from Bafferts camp when Sinister Minister ran at Keeneland getting the 500 Beyer speed rating, incidently he hasnt done much since.

Baffert couldnt even adapt to Cushion track at HP, insisting on training at SA and seeing his horses win at 8% at HP Spring vs norm of 20% for their stable.

Now 2 weeks into the meet,"We want Change or we are taking our horses", well sorry to see you go. Bring some extra deodarant as the stink you bring to Saratoga could be coming from your horses on the NY tracks or the higher humidity, we wont know which as of today.

King, don't think you are being realistic about this. They have raced over the surface for just two weeks(12 days) and now because a couple of guys complain about it your supposed to start dicking around with the track and see how it responds? This, to me, seems just as irresponsible.

true enough, Miller is on fire out there. would have been a heckuva lot cheaper than putting them on a plane and moving them all to Saratoga.

I agree with the person that said poor planning on Bafferts part. this has been a long time coming and the reaction of polytrack was pretty well known.
he also stunk on the cushion surface. at this point Baffert will need to relocate.

My prediction, Baffert doesn't do any better at Saratoga.

Nobody knew how the synthetic surfaces would playout i.e. kind to plodders and a disadvantage to speed during the yearling sales of 2006. I dont recall Baffert complaining about the Cushion track, just the polytrack, which according to its makers "requires no maintenance" and is a consistent surface. Its not consistent if its tight in the morning and loose in the afternoons. That's the point here, no Baffert complaining.

Part of the reason they're pissed and he didnt do well at Hollywood is b/c he points his horses specifically for the Del Mar meet. If he wanted to win at Hollywood he couldve-More Happy and Maimondes wouldnt have had problems winner over the Cushion track.