I was at Golden Gate for Tapeta today...

westcoastinvader · #1 11-07-2007, 09:19 PM

I felt compelled to visit for the first race over the Tapeta today at Golden Gate Fields.

Baze won, and set a track record.

(first race at one mile on tapeta)

It looks like chocolate and vanilla ice cream mixed together with confetti sprinkles!

DerbyCat · #2 11-07-2007, 09:49 PM

I'm going on Saturday... did the track play fair or are we going to have to wait a few weeks to see how it's playing?

My favorite $4K claimer is running in the 5th on Saturday, Proud Patrolman - in 66 career races, he's been ITM 42 of them - he's a trooper and never gives up, I love that horse!

outofthebox · #3 11-07-2007, 10:30 PM

I am hoping for some consistancy and favorable coments from trainers and jockeys about Tapeta. I was impressed with Presque Isle, and hope GG has similar success. Im hoping to have horses at Presque Isle next year so im going to watch the GG meet daily on calracing.com replays...

westcoastinvader · #4 11-07-2007, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

I'm going on Saturday... did the track play fair or are we going to have to wait a few weeks to see how it's playing?

My favorite $4K claimer is running in the 5th on Saturday, Proud Patrolman - in 66 career races, he's been ITM 42 of them - he's a trooper and never gives up, I love that horse!

DerbyCat,

I just zipped in as the horses were reaching the paddock for the first race, and then left immediately after the second. Suffice to say the first race played fair in my opinion since I had the winner straight up.

There were several in attendance like myself, there primarily to see the new course today.

Even with the fog, it was a beautiful day for horse racing by The Bay!

MISTERGEE · #5 11-08-2007, 08:30 PM

is the avg field size still about 6

DerbyCat · #6 11-08-2007, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MISTERGEE

is the avg field size still about 6

It's actually over 8 right now and they've got big fields for 10 races each day this weekend - trainers seem to like this new surface.

westcoastinvader · #7 11-09-2007, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

It's actually over 8 right now and they've got big fields for 10 races each day this weekend - trainers seem to like this new surface.

The handful of people I was standing with trackside by the Winner's Circle almost universally remarked they were surprised by the relative quietness of the horses coming down the stretch on the Tapeta.

Russell Baze commented in a wire service story in my paper this morning that I'll paraphrase from memory.... he said he liked it thus far because little was coming back at the horses making them a little easier to handle because some horses want to "climb" with stuff flying in their face.

He also liked that nothing seems to stick to to horse or jockey.

this from the Golden Gate Fields site after two days on Tapeta.

10-RACE WEEKEND CARDS -- The popularity of the GGF’s new Tapeta racing surface has resulted in a bevy of entries, prompting track officials to card 10-race programs on both Saturday and Sunday. Due to the 10-race cards, GGF has moved up post time for both days to 12:15 p.m.

westcoastinvader · #8 11-09-2007, 02:32 AM

And one more for purists, to my naked eye the track didn't look a whole lot different than the sandy surfaces I've seen as a fan in Aiken and Camden.

It looked to me like the vastly prominent ingredient was sand, with maybe only 10% max of the colored wax and rubber stuff mixed in. I'm not sure what the surface looked like deeper than a couple inches.

I saw the Tapeta in the paddock where the colors were more easily seen in the sand than what my naked eye could detect in the Tapeta on the racing surface.

westcoastinvader · #9 11-09-2007, 02:42 AM

And just one more...

The two races I watched were with the starting gate set in front of the grandstand for One Mile and then a 1 1/16.

It did seem the tractor driver had to work harder than usual to finesse the gate into the correct position. For anyone who has ever backed up with a trailer or boat attached, same concept. The starting gate did not seem to be rolling and moving on the Tapeta with the same ease and method I'm accustomed to seeing on dirt. It took multiple attempts of back and forth to get the gate set properly.

sumitas · #10 11-09-2007, 11:42 AM

Increased field size seems to be a given on the aw surfaces. I'd love to see at least one of the aw surfaces on a NY track asap.

from the bloodhorse..."The lanky Englishman (Dickinson) worked off some pre-race jitters, he said, by jogging the track barefoot in the morning after training hours. He said it actually gave him a good idea of the track's cushion.

The horses all came back well throughout the day, so he was pleased. "That's what I would consider a success, if everyone comes back safe."