Arlignton Poly

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by NoChanceToDance

Rain on the poly does make the track fast, and it's up to the track how fast they want it, not the weather conditions. If Arlington has had a lot of rain (which it looks like it has) the track will tighten up and could become lightning fast IF not much is done with it. Over here, if we have had a lot of rain on the poly, what we call a Clerk Of The Course will walk the track and identify if he/she thinks the surface is TOO fast for the horses. If so, they will arrange to have it harrowed slightly deeper than normal, allowing the rain water to soak through to the harcore/drainage underneath more quickly.

If poly is managed peoperly, it can be the best surface in the world, but just like any man made substance, put it in the wrong hands and things can change very quickly. I can't be sure, but after hearing about Turfway, i'd guess these tracks just aren't doing enough to make sure they are safe. Yes, it means hard work quite often, but if these tracks are prepared to take brake downs over hard work they don't deserve to be running a horse racing event.

the term "all-weather" is becoming a bit far fetched now. We have found that snow is probably the worst weather condition for poly. Heavy snow will lay on poly easily and create a freezing layer on top. Depending on how heavy the small fall is there can be very little you can do about it. This happened at Wolverhampton back in the winter, but even harrowing after every race wasn't doing the trick. Horses were coming back with frozen poly stuck in their hooves, and jockeys had complained of getting hit with what felt like rocks, when it was just the frozen poly getting kicked back.

Freezing temperatures are not ideal for poly, but there is no reason to believe that heat will cause any problems. Intense heat may mean the tracks might want to put some water on beforehand, but nothing else.

I'd be interested to know whether any of you guys know which 'blend' of polytrack each of these tracks have got. As far as i know there about 5 or 6 different blends available now, all slightly different in consistancy.

The best i have seen is at Lingfield, which rarely has any problems whatsoever, their blend is a much darker colour to look at.

you have to understand, over here we generally want a quick fix to all solutions. to have to WORK at a problem constantly is not in the best interest.

seriously, i think people leaped at poly, but are mismanaging it the same way they mismanaged their dirt surfaces. look at the tracks that still have dirt that are not seeing the numbers that del mar and arlington had last year. why? because they are focused on taking care of what they have, and doing it properly. installing poly won't help, if the mind set hasn't changed, and if no proper care is given the surface.

[NoChanceToDance]

Originally Posted by Danzig

you have to understand, over here we generally want a quick fix to all solutions. to have to WORK at a problem constantly is not in the best interest.

seriously, i think people leaped at poly, but are mismanaging it the same way they mismanaged their dirt surfaces. look at the tracks that still have dirt that are not seeing the numbers that del mar and arlington had last year. why? because they are focused on taking care of what they have, and doing it properly. installing poly won't help, if the mind set hasn't changed, and if no proper care is given the surface.

You have hit the nail on the head. Most of these tracks saw polytrack as an easy fix and next to no maintenance. Truth is, polytrack is neither of those things, but when managed correctly, it is the safest surface for horses to gallop on and out of all of the synthetic surfaces that i have seen i would go as far as saying it is the safest synthetic surface around.

I hope that they start to realise what work has to be carried out so they can start to manage to surface properly, and then all the doubters would crawl back into their holes. Racing is a sport that doesn't react well to change of any kind, and it will take sometime for some people to like the poly, but it will happen. We have been racing on poly for around 5-7 years now, i think. I remember the first day Lingfield opened it's gates to the new surface and invited trainers from all parts to take part in 'trial' races. No one was quite sure how they would react to it, but the comments were amazing. "rides like a thick layer of snow" i think was one of the quotes from the jockeys, and the trainers were also as happy.

It shouldn't have been an issue because these horses have been trained on poly for many years now and there are some trainers that swear by it. John Dunlop (who is one of the old school) never gallops his horses on turf, he uses the artificial surfaces instead, mostly poly and woodchip.

There will be a few that will knock the poly all day long, but all i suggest to them is to come to England or at least get in contact with some of our trainers, or even the tracks themselves and get a proper opinion.