I think the complainers' argument is that the track--in the afternoon--isn't conducive to having the "fastest" horse win. Of course you can say that the horse that reaches the wire first IS the "fastest," but a very tiring surface may well take more out of a horse that runs hard early. I was very much in favor of synthetic surfaces when it just appeared that tracks either couldn't, or wouldn't, make dirt surfaces safe. But nobody realized that at least some synthetic surfaces seem to be drastically changing "the game." The developers didn't market them by saying "They're safer, and by the way they're so deep and tiring that many of your most popular and expensive breeding lines will be worthless on them." And as for saying "Well, they shouldn't have bought those horses," I don't think anyone could have predicted how Poly was going to play at Del Mar. Apparently it CAN provide a surface which plays more like dirt--so why not do it, at least for now?