Funny, Considering the Number of Entries I Thought He Retired Years Ago

[Riot]

Actually, probably the biggest fabrication told about synthetic surfaces was that they would be maintenance free. That has proven to be completely false

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I've never seen any manufacturer call their surface maintenance-free. What I have seen is a claim to decreased maintenance, which appears to be true.

As for why Dickinson's horses don't race......I have no idea. I just use the facts....and the facts are that his horses rarely, if ever, race. It hardly seems like a stretch to at least accept the possibility that Tapeta has not added to their physical welfare.

I'm quite willing to accept that possibility, if we know that his horses are not racing because they are injured, cannot be brought fit to race, etc.

Do horses training over any artifical surface have more or less starts, generally, than those that train over conventional dirt? We'll see.

Perhaps some tracks out there (Arlington, Turfway) have some stats on number of starts per horse per meet, but I've never seen any published.

Curlin and Street Sense did well by training over artificial surfaces this year.