Santa Anita Injuries; Trainers meet, complain

[Cannon Shell]

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/48670.htm

So first hind toe grabs were bad but now they are good? This whole thing makes my head hurt....

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/48670.htm

So first hind toe grabs were bad but now they are good? This whole thing makes my head hurt....

they seem as 'with it' as the bc folks.....seem to recall that woodbine banned, and then re-allowed, toe grabs.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Danzig

they seem as 'with it' as the bc folks.....seem to recall that woodbine banned, and then re-allowed, toe grabs.

The myth of those dangerous toe grabs.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The myth of those dangerous toe grabs.

i'm beginning to really wonder just how much the powers that be at these tracks really know about anything.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i'm beginning to really wonder just how much the powers that be at these tracks really know about anything.

They dont know much but really dont know a thing about horses. The study that is used as the gold standard in banning toe grabs is old and flawed. The funny thing is that supposedly the main evil of toe grabs is that it stops the natural slide of a horses foot when it strikes the ground. Yet we are told that synthetic tracks are safer however they also prohibit the natural slide of the horses foot. Call me crazy but toe grabs didnt seem to be a big problem for horses at anytime in history yet when we banned them we have seen virtually no change in breakdown rates and in some places an increase. (though most breakdown numbers are statistically irrelevant)

[Scurlogue Champ]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i'm beginning to really wonder just how much the powers that be at these tracks really know about anything.

Don't wonder too hard.

The answer is very close to nil.

[Kasept]

Darrell Vienna, who is most often the smartest guy in the room, VERY critical.. Santa Anita officials say that the power-harrowing should straighten things out, but this is not a good sign so early in the meet.

Lenny Shulman on the trainers meeting at SA yesterday...

SoCal Trainers Knock Pro-Ride Surface
by Lenny Shulman
http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/48696.htm

About 40 Southern California-based trainers met with Pro-Ride head Ian Pearse Jan. 7 at Santa Anita Park to voice their concerns over the condition of Santa Anita’s synthetic racing surface, which Pearse installed a year ago.

Unlike meetings last year, where a majority of trainers defended the installation of synthetic surfaces at the state’s racetracks, the vast number of trainers who spoke at Santa Anita this time expressed disappointment with the performance and condition of Pearse’s Pro-Ride surface. Pearse added materials to the Cushion Track synthetic surface that failed to drain after heavy rains early in 2008.

[King Glorious]

I wonder if I'm alone in finding it quite funny that they billed this stuff as all weather and said it doesn't need maintenance but Pearse says that's ridiculous now. He says they have to develop a different maintenance plan for the winter than they do for the summer. He says that he thinks the winter weather and the high volume of traffic on the course are what's causing the problems. I think this is incredible. Did they not know winter was coming? Did they not know that SA was one of the most heavily used courses in the world? How can this not have been planned for?