Who'll Stop The Rain.. at SA (Fri. Cancelled..)

[docicu3]

With the National Weather service predicting from 2-5 inches of rain Friday through Saturday night I am sure the "Magna Mensa" is completely prepared for all scnarios as the Sunshine Millions West would seem more likely to be floating away on an arc than running these great cards this weekend.

Earlier rumors for such far fetching options such as Golden Gate running Saturaday Sunshine races have seemed less talked about in the media but given the likelyhood of a Monsoon for the Millions is there more info on this that will help the horseplayer cap accordingly

[Danzig]

i also had read that GG was a possible site. but apparently they just sat and prayed for clear skies and hoped for the best. always a good sign from a company trying to make a profit.
have a plan? no. we're just crossing our fingers.

what a mess if they're forced to cancel this big wknd.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

im pretty sure cdi has been "cloud seeding" in hopes of takeing over the event..

[Kasept]

It's totally unfair to chide Santa Anita management for the situation there.

As Jerry Moss said at the CHRB meeting the other day, the manufacturer(s) are the ones who promised outlandish things that have not come through. CushionTrack Footings screwed this composition up by trying to get cute with the temperature concerns in Arcadia vs. Inglewood, and the fine silt they added to the Santa Anita surface has been acknowledged as the culprit and as a mistake. Santa Anita had no choice but to believe the installer when they said that what they were going to mix as the surface was going to be 'right'.

In fact, had SA management NOT sensed a problem early on last fall, they would not have been in position with Ian Pearce (sp?) of Pro-Ride to make the ammendments they are going to make to get through the meet. Pro-Ride began testing and playing with the CushionTrack mixture late LAST YEAR... By doing that they were ready to offer the polymer binder add-in to ameliorate the drainage situation...

[herkhorse]

Originally Posted by Kasept

It's totally unfair to chide Santa Anita management for the situation there.

As Jerry Moss said at the CHRB meeting the other day, the manufacturer(s) are the ones who promised outlandish things that have not come through. CushionTrack Footings screwed this composition up by trying to get cute with the temperature concerns in Arcadia vs. Inglewood, and the fine silt they added to the Santa Anita surface has been acknowledged as the culprit and as a mistake. Santa Anita had no choice but to believe the installer when they said that what they were going to mix as the surface was going to be 'right'.

In fact, had SA management NOT sensed a problem early on last fall, they would not have been in position with Ian Pearce (sp?) of Pro-Ride to make the ammendments they are going to make to get through the meet. Pro-Ride began testing and playing with the CushionTrack mixture late LAST YEAR... By doing that they were ready to offer the polymer binder add-in to ameliorate the drainage situation...

word of the day thanks steve

[Echo Farm]

I had to look that one up, too.

a·mel·io·rate to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve


Interesting comparison of the temperatures at the two tracks. As the crow flies they appear to be about 25 miles apart.

[TitanSooner]

Originally Posted by Echo Farm

I had to look that one up, too.

a·mel·io·rate to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve


Interesting comparison of the temperatures at the two tracks. As the crow flies they appear to be about 25 miles apart.

Hollywood is only a few miles from the beach.. keeps it quite cool most of the time.. Santa Anita is pinned up against the San Gabriel Mountains and when it gets warm, it can swelter there.

[docicu3]

Originally Posted by Kasept

It's totally unfair to chide Santa Anita management for the situation there.

As Jerry Moss said at the CHRB meeting the other day, the manufacturer(s) are the ones who promised outlandish things that have not come through. CushionTrack Footings screwed this composition up by trying to get cute with the temperature concerns in Arcadia vs. Inglewood, and the fine silt they added to the Santa Anita surface has been acknowledged as the culprit and as a mistake. Santa Anita had no choice but to believe the installer when they said that what they were going to mix as the surface was going to be 'right'.

In fact, had SA management NOT sensed a problem early on last fall, they would not have been in position with Ian Pearce (sp?) of Pro-Ride to make the ammendments they are going to make to get through the meet. Pro-Ride began testing and playing with the CushionTrack mixture late LAST YEAR... By doing that they were ready to offer the polymer binder add-in to ameliorate the drainage situation...

I think MAGNA has shown for quite sometime now that they are capable of making a bad situation worse and my intent here was to get a thread going that hopefully will provide updates on what to expect the next few days in Southern California.

What MAGNA did to Maryland racing last year by firning the most competent admired and respected racing czar they could possibly have, the abomination of GP's changes to make it literally impossible for racing fans to enjoy a day at the races and the instability they have created in the largest single owner of tracks in the country speaks for itself........these are not great business minds or apparently very loyal employers to work for as evidenced again in the recent court settlement in this weeks news.

I am a fan and admirer of Rick Hammerle's efforts at Santa Anita as anyone, he seems like an affable, bright, ethical guy who is one of the high points of the show each week Friday at 600 PM......This is not his or any on site employee of Santa Anita fault, however I think it is fair to look at recent decisions MAGNA has made in a number of areas over the last couple of years and call attention to a potential problem that may compromise one of racing's most fun winter events.

ProRide,Cushion Track,Poly Track or Noah's Arc floating down the chute Saturday.....If the rains forcast are a reality, what is MAGNA (not just Santa Anita) planning on Sunshine Million day to salavage the weekend, that's all...I wasn't calling for anyone to take responsibility for it raining.....I agree it's unfortunate the calendar hasn't allowed Santa Anita to put down the ProRide chemical savior to salvage the Sunshine Saturday but it would be nice to know from a handicapping perspective what they plan to do, if anything ,as that influences handicapping as well.

God Bless Rick Hammerle and his calendar give aways otherwise I'd have to look at the fading paint on my Sub Zero in near comparable temps...

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Kasept

It's totally unfair to chide Santa Anita management for the situation there.

As Jerry Moss said at the CHRB meeting the other day, the manufacturer(s) are the ones who promised outlandish things that have not come through. CushionTrack Footings screwed this composition up by trying to get cute with the temperature concerns in Arcadia vs. Inglewood, and the fine silt they added to the Santa Anita surface has been acknowledged as the culprit and as a mistake. Santa Anita had no choice but to believe the installer when they said that what they were going to mix as the surface was going to be 'right'.

In fact, had SA management NOT sensed a problem early on last fall, they would not have been in position with Ian Pearce (sp?) of Pro-Ride to make the ammendments they are going to make to get through the meet. Pro-Ride began testing and playing with the CushionTrack mixture late LAST YEAR... By doing that they were ready to offer the polymer binder add-in to ameliorate the drainage situation...

I don't think Santa Anita is totally blameless here though. While I agree that it's mostly the manufacturer's fault, I think Santa Anita should have gotten assurances that the surface was going to be exactly the same as Hollywood's. My problem with the installation of this stuff has always been because it was basically untested under different scenarios. Well, SA had the advantage of getting a somewhat tested track and instead, let the company get away with using them for further experimentation. I understand the thought behind changing up the composition of the track for the expected different weather conditions at SA but the problem was that nobody knew how the new composition would hold up so they should have went with the one that worked. Maybe SA was told that they were getting exactly the same thing as Hollywood but from all I've read, that doesn't appear to be the case.

I also feel that SA could have been a little tougher in their stance and not given in to the CHRB. Stronach was against the stuff and I'm sure that had he held his ground and said no to having to install it right away, they could have gotten more time to do testing and maybe could have gotten things right the first time.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I also feel that SA could have been a little tougher in their stance and not given in to the CHRB. Stronach was against the stuff and I'm sure that had he held his ground and said no to having to install it right away, they could have gotten more time to do testing and maybe could have gotten things right the first time.

CushionTrack Footings' Hollywood installation 'got it right the first time' though, and they had the same short timing. Cushion told SA that they were utilizing the HOL mix with the addition of a finer silt to offset the +100 (F) temperatures at Arcadia. That was a mistake once the rains came...

Why would anyone expect SA to choose NOT to rely on Cushion's expertise when the success of the HOL surface prompted the decision to go with Cushion in the first place? As Jerry Moss said, the CA track officials were at the time and are continuing to expect the synthetic surface manufacturers to be the authority on the surface.

Santa Anita had been pro-active in taking precautionary steps when they sensed a problem. I have no idea what anyone thinks could have been done differently the way this thing unfolded.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Kasept

It's totally unfair to chide Santa Anita management for the situation there.

As Jerry Moss said at the CHRB meeting the other day, the manufacturer(s) are the ones who promised outlandish things that have not come through. CushionTrack Footings screwed this composition up by trying to get cute with the temperature concerns in Arcadia vs. Inglewood, and the fine silt they added to the Santa Anita surface has been acknowledged as the culprit and as a mistake. Santa Anita had no choice but to believe the installer when they said that what they were going to mix as the surface was going to be 'right'.

In fact, had SA management NOT sensed a problem early on last fall, they would not have been in position with Ian Pearce (sp?) of Pro-Ride to make the ammendments they are going to make to get through the meet. Pro-Ride began testing and playing with the CushionTrack mixture late LAST YEAR... By doing that they were ready to offer the polymer binder add-in to ameliorate the drainage situation...

i understand all that, as well as how much control over certain situations that mgmt would have. but with a big wknd in the offing, there should have been a plan b, since you have no control over the weather, and the binding material is not yet in place. and of course no way to know when the binder will be installed, as pro ride has to obtain enough to install.
i don't hold the track responsible for the installation snafu, but if the sunshine millions has to be cancelled, then yes, mgmt would be accountable as they could move to hollywood if necessary, but chose to hope for clear weather. now i guess they have to hope for a small amount of rain, or they will have a soupy mess. again.

[Kasept]

They have a Plan B as Rick Hammerle mentioned Friday on ATR.

[Danzig]

good.

one of these days i'm going to get tony to get on here and figure out why i can't listen to your show. i've tried many times, but no luck.

[Hickory Hill Hoff]

Originally Posted by Kasept

They have a Plan B as Rick Hammerle mentioned Friday on ATR.

I'm sure we'll find out "B" this afternoon.....stay tuned!

[ceejay]

Originally Posted by Kasept

It's totally unfair to chide Santa Anita management for the situation there.

As Jerry Moss said at the CHRB meeting the other day, the manufacturer(s) are the ones who promised outlandish things that have not come through. CushionTrack Footings screwed this composition up by trying to get cute with the temperature concerns in Arcadia vs. Inglewood, and the fine silt they added to the Santa Anita surface has been acknowledged as the culprit and as a mistake.

The key here is promised outlandish things. If I promise my customers or partners something because a vendor promised it to me even if outlandish, some or much of the blame comes back to me. I don't know if SA management should have know the CushionClaims were outlandish but I don't necessarily believe vendors claims without evaluation.

[Kasept]

Won't be racing at SA today. Decision for Saturday by 10am tomorrow...

They should cancel Saturday now. This is one of the biggest bloopers in sports history.

[Kasept]

Rain is supposed to end today though, with clearing through tomorrow. The hope is that they can scrape the top couple of "mushy" inches off the 'sealed' Cushion and have a good surface to run on underneath. That was the intent of sealing the track to begin with. If the rain stops and seems unlikely to return, they can get away with Saturday. Then Mon-Thurs they add the Pro-Ride Polymer Binders and start anew for the rest of the meet.

[The Bid]

Taking 2 inches off the top may be as good of an idea as installing cushion track to begin with.

[fpsoxfan]

It's worth taking a shot. Hopefully it works!