Majesticperfection - condylar fracture

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

Both of the Asmussen horses suffered injuries from workouts over the Oklahoma training track (where Asmussen is stabled), not the main track. To the extent that I heard complaints about that surface, they have not been that the track's too slow or deep; rather, the complaints have been that the Oklahoma track has frequently been sealed and that it's a (historically) faster surface.

And the track that Winslow Homer ran over was not a slow, tiring surface.

I've never heard the Oklahoma training center reffered to as a fast surface before. Was the horse that collapsed with Gary Stevens aboard in a workout on the Oklahoma or main?

I'm sure both tracks are fine... the whole point is that slower tracks aren't safer tracks. It's just something I've kind of noticed over and over.

You have had 14 different Graded Stakes editions run over the main track both this year and last year at distances of 6.5 furlongs or further.

All 14 editions of this years race has been run in slower time than last years edition of the same race. Basically, the track has been significantly slower of late than it was for most of last year. It's been much slower of par late - and my pars include several years.

In the last two weeks - there have been 7 different horses who've either been vanned off, collapsed after the wire, or suffered a heart attack in deep stretch. These seven were all from a race on the main track. Nothing to do with workouts or post-race injuries the next time they worked.

Yet the track is supposed to be as safe as ever because it's as slow as ever...