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Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin
If anything, handle will pick up from here. The more that people get used to polytrack, the more comfortable they will be wagering on it.
There's practically no chance that the polytrack will be gone from Keeneland in 2 years. The chances of that are less than 1%. It's more like .0001%. They just spent millions of dollars putting it in. The jockeys love it, the trainers love it and the owners love it. Horses stay much more sound training on it and racing on it. You will see a big increase in field size because of it. Bigger fields mean bigger handle.
I'm not going to go so far as to say that polytrack will be everywhere in 5 years, but I will say that you will see it at several more tracks in 5 years. The use of polytrack will increase dramatically over the next few years.
Here in Southern California, the trainers aren't just happy with it, they're ecstatic with it. I haven't heard one complaint. Everybody loves it. The horses are staying much sounder training over it.
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I disagree, initial thoughts are that it's probably great for training and will keep horses sound and that's a good thing, that I do not deny. As for the racing, what about the owner that just spent millions on horses that are precocious and built for speed? Do you really think they are going to be happy watching their million dollar babies out there spinning their wheels? What do you think is going to happen out there when all of those Cali Speedballs are tanking, you think owners are going to be happy. Sure, they may have a healthy horse, that is not earning anything. What Kee has done is essentially made itself a training track and that trend will continue. I don't think that was their intention.