BEYER: Synthetic supporters didn't weigh all the facts
http://www.drf.com/news/andrew-beyer...eigh-all-facts
The decline of its signature race was only one of the reasons that Keeneland announced last week that it will remove the Polytrack and install a dirt surface for its fall meeting. Del Mar made a similar decision last month, and Santa Anita got rid of its synthetic track in 2010. But the decision by Keeneland – a power in the Thoroughbred industry – signaled that the movement to synthetic surfaces is finished in the United States..
The premise that racing surfaces were principally responsible for breakdowns was a simplistic view of a complex problem..
In retrospect, the push for synthetic surfaces in 2006 was ill-considered, hasty, and a bit arrogant. A small number of the sport’s leaders were saying, in essence, “We are going to change the fundamental nature of horse racing in America, and we want everyone to fall in line with us.” Upon seeing what the future would look like, too many people – the sport’s customers, especially – wanted no part of it..
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