Grass Ranks Thinning Because of Synthetics

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

The sport could be helped from a wagering perspective. But what about the quality of the races themselves? Yes, if the good ones switch over, new ones will take their places. But won't the new ones just be ones that weren't good enough to win in the first place. It will be like this year's handicap division. If Curlin, Hard Spun, Lawyer Ron, Street Sense, and Any Given Saturday were still around, I am pretty sure that the top of the division would look better than it's going to look this year. But they are all gone and somebody has to step in and fill the voids and win the races. Doesn't mean they are anywhere near as good as the ones that left us though. I don't look at it as new horses emerging as much as old horses taking advantage of new opportunities.

What does synthetic tracks have to do with horses retiring early to cash out at stud?

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

What does synthetic tracks have to do with horses retiring early to cash out at stud?

I think he just meant we shouldn't be satisfied with new lesser horses winning on the turf cause all the good ones went to synthetics anymore than we should be satisfied when new lesser horses are winning as older males because all the good ones have gone off to stud.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

I think he just meant we shouldn't be satisfied with new lesser horses winning on the turf cause all the good ones went to synthetics anymore than we should be satisfied when new lesser horses are winning as older males because all the good ones have gone off to stud.

I believe that his point is moot because we have no idea what horses will emerge each year. Lawyer Ron was about the 8th best of his generation that wound up being top older horse because of defections but how do we not know that hemay have emerged anyway? It is hard to believe any horse could have beaten him at Saratoga this year. I have a hard time believing that all the major turf races will be abandoned because of synthetic. Actually turf racing will get a boost in this country because better mares are being bred to turf stallions because of the synthetic/turf relationship. You already see turf types brining more at the sales and this trend should continue if synthetic tracks expand.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I believe that his point is moot because we have no idea what horses will emerge each year. Lawyer Ron was about the 8th best of his generation that wound up being top older horse because of defections but how do we not know that hemay have emerged anyway? It is hard to believe any horse could have beaten him at Saratoga this year. I have a hard time believing that all the major turf races will be abandoned because of synthetic. Actually turf racing will get a boost in this country because better mares are being bred to turf stallions because of the synthetic/turf relationship. You already see turf types brining more at the sales and this trend should continue if synthetic tracks expand.

So you don't believe that taking away the top horses from one area is any more likely to produce new "top" horses than the natural evolution of things? If next year, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Dirk Nowitzki all miss the year with injury and Amare Stoudamire ends up leading the league in scoring, you don't think the absence of those other stars would have anything to do with it? You would think my point is moot because we don't know who would have emerged anyway? It's the same concept. Whether the top horses are taken away by retirements or by injuries or by trainers deciding to run them on a different surface, their departures create voids that will get filled but doesn't necessarily mean that the horses that fill them are just as good or would have done so anyway.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

So you don't believe that taking away the top horses from one area is any more likely to produce new "top" horses than the natural evolution of things? If next year, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Dirk Nowitzki all miss the year with injury and Amare Stoudamire ends up leading the league in scoring, you don't think the absence of those other stars would have anything to do with it? You would think my point is moot because we don't know who would have emerged anyway? It's the same concept. Whether the top horses are taken away by retirements or by injuries or by trainers deciding to run them on a different surface, their departures create voids that will get filled but doesn't necessarily mean that the horses that fill them are just as good or would have done so anyway.

True but the factors that take away the top horses wont change. We still wont know who will turnout to be our best horses at the end of the year. On Jan 1st last year if I told you Curlin would be horse of the Year you would have told me that no horse had ever emerged in Feb of his 3 yo year and became horse of the year in that same season an that the crop had to have been really soft for that to happen. Of course that would not have been true on any accounts. The problem as I see it is that the turf division in this country has lacked depth for a few years and that trend is likely to contnue if the Euros keep invading the sales with 50 cent dollars to spend. That we are probably producing more turf runners in the shed may mitigate that somewhat. The fact is that too many of our top horses are going to stud too early which is what is the real reason that the top races are weakened.

[Bobby Fischer]

multiple personalities The gambler in me is spreading exactas and tris with legit longshot contenders like Air Commander and Johnny Eves in the San Fernando hand over fist, while the best animal (Tiago) clearly has no chance of winning at even money, but the sportsman in me is cringing at the low quality stakes racing on this phoney surface.