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Originally Posted by oracle80
They will soon find that the tracks who don't install it will have average starters per race increase dramatically.
People who pay good cash to buy and breed horses with dirt pedigrees are not simply going to give up and accept racing on synthetic.
What they will do is ship to a place where dirt racing still exists, and try the horse there.
Already O Neill says he will not be training Lava Man on the synthetic surface at Hollywood. He wants the horse to have the best shot he can have in the classic.
I'm wondering if Stronach isn't being pretty clever here. SA is not required to install it at their upcoming meet. After that meet ends next year, Hollywood and Del mar will be running meets on Polytrack the rest of the year, and state law or no state law, watch how fast the the politicians agree to let him install a safer dirt surface if handle gets crushed at the other two places and the state's cut of the pie takes a hit.
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Agreed on all counts.
I don't think I want to buy a 7 figure yearling and run him over that surface if he is bred top and bottom to like the dust.
The Astro-turf trend passed, and this will too.
The more and more I think about it, the more I agree that it is a money thing like you have pointed out so many times.
In the end, the higher-ups don't make the safety of $5,000 claimers their top priority.
This "safer for the horses" thing will be cited as the reason over and over again.
The article written by the Janks woman from Arlington summed it up pretty good for me. If we would stop letting redneck trainers enter horses who have been neglected and can barely stand up, the breakdowns would decrease.