Arlignton Poly

[JJP]

We'll see if they can get it right. Like Crist said, we have more extreme weather here and I don't think many who rushed to judgement took that into account. I won't rip Turfway Park because they have to race thru brutal conditions and from what I've seen, their racing has been more like normal dirt racing than the other synthetic tracks. And they were losing race dates. Arlington? I hated to see my local track get it but I knew it was going to happen because of all the bad publicity last year. The Chicago Tribune, a paper who basically eliminated horse racing coverage and charts ten years ago, was on a witch hunt to make AP look bad. Was it the surface? Maybe, but I think some trainers were definitely to blame for some of the breakdowns we saw last year (which seem to be escalating recently).
But California? This was just plain wrong for the CHRB to mandate synthetic surfaces on all the tracks. They don't have weather issues out there. If this was a reaction to breakdowns at Dmr last year, then fine, just put it there but don't penalize the other tracks and fans. And Keeneland? That track has become a laughingstock. The Poly propagandists love to point at the Sinister Minister race as being fraudulent but I would argue that the most fraudulent Grade 1 on dirt I've ever seen was the Blue Grass this year.....and I even nailed the exacta so it wasn't sour grapes.
A little bit of synthetic is fine; a good alternative for winter tracks like Turfway....I could see Aqueduct replacing the inner dirt with it and it probably would make sense. But to see tracks like Keeneland and Santa Anita go to it is just wrong. I hope to God Saratoga and CD never go to it because that will be the end of American style racing as we know it.