Polytrack

[The Indomitable DrugS]

It's safe to say that it's the trickiest of all the synthetic surfaces. Here are the win percentages of favorites since 2000 in stakes races for both dirt and poly on the five Poly surface tracks.

Del Mar:

Favorites in dirt stakes: 66-for-156 (42%)
Favorites in Poly stakes: 19-for-75 (25%)

Keeneland:

Favorites in dirt stakes: 41-for-118 (35%)
Favorites in Poly stakes: 11-for-74 (15%)

Arlington:

Favorites in dirt stakes: 74-for-198 (37%)
Favorites in Poly stakes: 23-for-80 (29%)

Turfway Park:

Favorites in dirt stakes: 59-for-165 (36%)
Favorites in Poly stakes: 42-for-146 (29%)

Woodbine:

Favorites in dirt stakes: 204-for-493 (41%)
Favorites in Poly stakes: 107-for-312 (34%)


At all five tracks - dirt favorites win % have an absolutely gigantic edge over Poly favorites in stakes ... and at the two major tracks (Del Mar and Keeneland) the margin is almost impossibly wide.

Look at the last couple runnings of the Blue Grass - Stately Victor murdered Paddy O Prado and First Dude .. and yet the 2nd and 3rd place finishers have been much better since. Dominican beat Street Sense - the former was always a dog, the latter won the Kentucky Derby next out and the Travers later in the year. Monba won the Blue Grass one start before running last in the Derby and never winning another race again from several more tries.

Zenyatta has won twice in her career on Polytrack - a one length win over the laughably terrible Model in the '08 Hirsch and a head win over the pathetic and talentless beyond belief Anabaa's Creations in the '09 Hirsch.

I've had a remarkable amount of luck handicapping Poly races by simply drawing a line through every race on the form not run over a poly surface.

If a horse making its Poly debut has started 5 times at Santa Anita on Pro-Ride, 4 times at Hollywood on Cushion, 6 times on turf at various tracks and five other times on dirt at various tracks ... he's treated by me as nothing more than a first time starter making his career debut .. and those prior races are viewed as nothing more than good fitness building workouts.

At tracks like Keeneland and Del Mar ... you run into a lot of races where the entire field consists of heavily raced horses making their career debut. At tracks like Arlington, Turfway, and Woodbine .. that's rarely ever the case - and they are certainly the three poly tracks to totally avoid because of it.