synthetic surface fake out

[Riot]

Or, is it a mistake to treat the subject monolithically?

I think it is a mistake to treat all synthetics the same - most of us do not do that for the various dirt tracks, or turf - recognizing that they differ, sometimes quite markedly. Barbaro was a bit hard to follow for that reason.

The synthetics are just another surface. I'm going to do the same as I always do - pay the most attention to how the horses are looking and going the last couple of weeks (my own and others observations - Haskin is the best) and where they are training.