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Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin
I totally disagree with you guys. California racing will be fine. There are certainly some problems out here, but nothing that can't be dealt with. Polytrack will be an improvement over the crappy dirt track they have at Santa Anita.
With regard to Lava Man, the posts here are so comical it is unbelievable. He went head and head in :46 3/5 in the Pacific Classic and he still won easily. What do you guys want him to do? Do you want him to win by 20 lengths? If Sun King went head and head in :46 3/5 in a 1 1/4 mile race, I can guarantee you that he would not have been able to beat that field by 4 lengths the way Lava Man did.
Lava Man has run some incredible races out here the last 15 months. He beat Borrego by 8 lengths in the Hollywood Gold Cup last year. Two start later, Borrego went to New York and won the Jockey Club Gold cup by 7 lengths.
The California 3 year olds did fine this year when they went back East. Bob and John won the Wood Memorial. Sinister Minister won the Blue Grass.
The horses in California are just as competitive with east coast horses as they have ever been. The Tin Man just won the Arlington Million. Stevie Wonderboy won the BC Juvenille. Wild Fit ran 2nd in the BC Juvenille Filly.
We have some 2 year olds at here right now that can run with anyone. If they stay sound, they will be tough to beat in the BC Juvenille races this year.
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Rupert they leaped before they looked out there. Some rinky dink venue switching to that stuff is a non event. People who bet those small tracks will still bet them. Lets face it, if you will bet 5 claimers, you will bet em if they run em uphill in the snow.
But if I were California I would have watched the upcoming Keeneland fall meet intently. I meet player and player after player(and these guys SEND it in) who keep telling me that they won't bet a quarter on the Keeneland poly races that are upcoming. I hear lots of opinions voiced here that say the same thing. They are gonna take a handle hit, and we both know it. Handle is what pays the bills. I'm also gonan be interested in just how many qulaity horses will actually wanna compete there on that stuff.
California should have waited for more data to come in on the stuff. And again, are you telling me that the trainers wouldn't have preferred(Vienna spoke out on this) them just installing new cushions and surfaces that were still dirt? This is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You are gonna alienate gamblers who pay the bills, and trainers who now have to completely start over in how to train each day, and owners who will question how racing there translates to future success on dirt racing in the big races and also what kind of rewsidal value will be awarded to horses who win big races there. I mean, do you really think that major stud farms are gonna toss millions at horses whose only graded wins are on polytrack? I highly doubt it. They are gonna have to travel and win on dirt in order to solidify it and in that case, what is the ****ing point? I mean, its so hard to win a grade oe race, just one. Having to go out and win another in order to justify full market value at stud is a major penalty and risk that many will not take.
This whole thing is gonna get polarized at some point, poly vs traditional. My money is on traditional.