Turfway Cancel
 

I wonder what the excuse will be after already starting the card

Its something like 17 degrees! They tried to run but can you really blame them for canceling with such temperatures?

Track is frozen Jim, thought it doesnt freeze

What if it is? Who said it wouldn't freeze? Who needs to race when its 17 degrees?

Why can't you let go of this issue? Every time there is a breakdown or a cancellation it's a race to the board to start a thread saying "see, see, they said no more breakdowns, they said no more cancellations".

Even if someone somewhere sometime made those claims, so what? That ship has sailed. What do you suggest, that they rip up the surface and go back to dirt which would cause even more cancellations and breakdowns.

Please give your solution to the problem that you keep alluding to.

Cmon Jim-

You're a Chicago guy. Would Hawthorne ever cancel if it was 17 degrees? No way. Anytime its above zero they'll run. Sounds like a surface problem to me.

From the Turfway website;

Welcome to Turfway Park

Sunday racing canceled
Citing temperatures pushed below zero by wind chill, Turfway Park canceled Sunday's live racing card after the second of nine scheduled races. The track remains open for simulcasting.

When Aqueduct and other east coast tracks cancel citing the temperature, that's ok. But when Turfway cancels due to temperature its just a cover story and the real reason is because the polytrack isn't everything it was supposed to be.

I suggest they quit lying about the surface and fix the problem. Add more top to it, do something. If this winter would have been any kind of winter there would be some major problems.

Who needs to race when its 17 degrees? Ask a guy like Mike Maker who shipped 3 up to run.

Jim, I dont like Polytrack, I like traditional racing on a standard dirt track. The purpose of Polytrack at TWP was a safer surface, we just got over the most catastrophic month of racing at TWP, you dont see that reported do you? They had more breakdowns this December than any other December on record.

Jim

I remember night racing at TWP when you would be lucky if you could catch your breath it was so cold. They absolutely ran in colder night time temps with the old dirt track. The jocks were complaining about the track yesterday, Im sure its not just the cold weather. The track is uneven, and frozen, you think TWP is going to say that on the website?

Yeah...The track we payed millions for is unsafe, frozen, and the jocks wont ride. Please.

I take it you were joking. There are frequent Hawthorne cancellations for weather. Cold, snow, ice, wind. They canceled two days in a row in early December.

Yeah I remember how with the old track they closed for like 2-3 consecutive weeks a few years ago. Cancellations were legendary with the dirt at TP.
There will be days where it is not going to be easy or safe to race in the winter in the midwest regardless of the surface, there will be problems.

You payed for the track? really?

So its back to dirt you say because its safer based on one bad month. distortion.

So its back to dirt that doesn't freeze and never requires a cancellation? more distortion.

Jocks wont ride? well who are those guys on the horses every day at TP?

You don't like the surface, that's fine. But you continually focus only on Turfway when cancellations, and breakdowns occured in greater measure in the past at TP, and at other tracks.

That yeah we paid millions was a mythical turfway response, read the entire post.

Jim, It wasnt a bad month, it was the worst December ever. The jocks wouldnt ride the card today and truth be told they have been bitching about the track for a while now. The kickback, its uneven, now its freezing. Listen the track was supposed to have NO UPKEEP, theyve tore the top off, tried to level it, all while telling the general public its great. Seriously, is this surface as advertised? I dont think so, not even close.

Having grown up in Arkansas and now living in Louisville, I can say that with the wind chill this is honestly the coldest day I have ever experienced!

Racing needs to hire a firm with a background in materials engineering/science to develop artificial tracks. DuPont might be one to start looking at.

Poly, Cushion, you name it came from people like Michael Dickinson and Martin Collins. Granted they may be horsemen -- but they are not engineers and scientists. The input of horsemen is vital -- but let the engineers and scientists formulate, develop, and test the product.

Poly may indeed work well for walks, gallops, and even training tracks. For racing it is certainly having serious problems.

Was it not 17 degrees when the first 2 races were run? It's not like it's never been that temperature at Turfway before. If it was to cold after the 2nd it was to cold before the 1st. This does sound a bit fishy.

i'm 150 miles west and the wind is cuttin ass. The jet stream goes right through the cincy area so it's probably at least 5 degrees cooler. No way i'd ride a horse in these conditions.

They are having a very hard time controlling it. The staff at TP said so in not so many words.

Tough for the 'capper too as they keep jacking with the track (the same track that was supposed to be non-maintenance). Looks like they are adding sand at times. The staff said they can adjust the wax ratio too. The running times can vary tremendously from day to day.

The clumps of poly can fly a long way and they hit with quite an impact. I've seen horses recoil and climb when pounded in the nose with that stuff. And I've seen jockeys visibly shaken when they get hit with it. It's a mess.

Booey, I sold off almost all I had to make good on that debt and still cant do it.

Ill be at Turfway Park on the 10th, ask Wolfgang to direct you to me. I will take care of you.

The only time Hawthorne cancels is due to unsafe track conditions. Not because of cold or snow.

Im kidding Booey. I may be able to scrape together a hundred between now and the 10th. See you then

Cold no, but it wouldn't get cold enough in December to close for cold.
They do close for snow now and again.

http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/edito...48from=477&to=

At Golden Gate they had breakdowns in both the 7th and 8th races today.If this synthetic at Turfway isn't what they want,then fine,but I don't understand where dirt is in any way a better option. Get a better synthetic.

As Arl Jim said, the ship has sailed. Let's improve the synthetics, clamp down on the drugs and shoes, that's the future. And the future is now.

very unhappy to read the CHRB will not be enforcing their toe grab rule. toe grabs in the opinion of many is a cause of problems with horses. why make a rule and then not enforce?
oh...wait...we are talking about cali, aren't we?

The ship has sailed?

The Titanic sailed too -- briefly. Until it hit a big chunk of frozen poly and sank.

I just checked as to why Turfway cancelled. Turfway cancelled because of feedback from the jocks regarding the cold temps on their body. Jocks said that the surface was OK but the cold was too much for them and their body. I was in Cleveland over the weekend and the cold was brutal.

Until it hit Spandex, old blownout tires, and someones old rug a cat pissed on

I feel for you! I can't even imagine... I'm bitching about the temps being in the 30's here in FL. :eek:

Glad you got that all cleared up for us Euro :D .

BTW, did you notice the article from past thread? JJP posted this:

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky...g/16549702.htm

Nice article Todko

The worst December on record, seems like the track is holding up well.

Lucky we have had the most mild winter I can remember

Vietch is a genius...

"There is somethign that made the track different". Yes there is, RACING. What a bunch of incompetent buffoons

John Veitch is a great man.

I read that article earlier. I will be the first to say that I am not happy with the surface at Turfway. It is entirely too fast. The thing about Poly is that when it is cold, the fibers get hard and fast. Just like anything else that freezes. The challenge that tracks is going to have is to keep the surface warm enough so the track isnt playing so fast. They have more and more work to do. But, we have the surface down at good tracks where the business can learn what to do and what not to do. We need testing tracks and Turfway is a perfect track to conduct that testing.

Euro, the whole point of this stuff was to be maintenence free. That was the argument in many cases before the garbage was even put down. So now what? Install heaters underneath the surface to keep the track warm? Come on...

While we're at it, why don't we just put a superdome over all of the tracks up north to prevent the freezing? :rolleyes:

Euro

The whole thing is this track isnt supposed to freeze, or require any upkeep

This track is a Joke, Marty Collins and Keeneland make all the money and the idiots at TWP scramble around and step on their own dicks trying to figure out the problem.

Fellas its not rocket science, the problem is the cold, and racing, exactly what this track is supposed to handle. Its not an all weather track, the weather in KY in the winter isnt like England. It doesnt just ran, it gets damn cold, and its foolish to think a carpet wouldnt freeze in the rain. Havent any of you ever pulled carpet and put it outside for the garbage collectors? Feel that carpet after a few days in the rain and cold. WHAT A JOKE

Well no it wasnt meant to be maintenance free. All the literature said that the surface is virtually maintenance free. But with any surface, you are going to need to maintain it. No, I do not think heaters are the answer. I think they need to find the right mixture so that the surface doesnt get too cold and fast. Again, this is a work in progress. Not sure why that is so hard to understand.

Virtually maintenance free isnt taking 4 inches off the top, grading it constantly, having it uneven, freezing, getting kickback thats like marbles shooting out of a gun. Thats not maintenance free, thats a train wreck

They just spent millions of dollars on this "work in progress." I recall your original argument for this surface was its "easy maintenence." This isn't easy maintenence, Euro. The stuff is garbage and instead of admitting to it, you're skating around the topic.

Again, nobody has ever said the surface doesnt require any upkeep. And I agree that the weather in England is vastly different from what Turfway gets. But, that doesnt mean that the surface isnt better. PolyTrack is certainly better than dirt for turfway. The numbers speak for themselves. Compare the number of injuries and ambulance runs. I have always maintained that Turfway should close down from x-mas to V-day. But no one ever listens to me.