god dang that looked bad

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by georgewashington

Aqueduct better get on the phone to the polytrack people. This is going to be a long winter for them. The trainers and owners can't be happy with that track.

Not sure of what happened but if it was a heart attack then it had nothing to do with the surface.

[georgewashington]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Not sure of what happened but if it was a heart attack then it had nothing to do with the surface.

If they were not having so many problems with their track I would give them the benefit of the doubt, but do you know how rare a heart attack is? Watch the race, he took a bad step. Might not have been the track, there are accidents that just happen, but it looked like a bad step and this often happens due to an inconsistency in the track.

When you look at Aqueducts numbers at the end of the meet, and the fact that they can't even get their main track operational, I have to believe polytrack would be much safer.

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Don't think it was a heart attack.I'll just leave it at that.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER

Don't think it was a heart attack.I'll just leave it at that.

I didn't care to watch the replay but the report of him lying on his back made me think it could have been a possibility.

[PSH]

Just another reminder of how dangerous this sport is for the jockeys.
Hope all are going to be all right.

With a race like this a field of six and two go down and two others are compromised in their chances to win, shouldn't the race be declared for betting purposes a no run and the purses be paid out accordingly to the finishers. Or, am i totally off track here given those that had the winner would get screwed?

PSH

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by PSH

Just another reminder of how dangerous this sport is for the jockeys.
Hope all are going to be all right.

With a race like this a field of six and two go down and two others are compromised in their chances to win, shouldn't the race be declared for betting purposes a no run and the purses be paid out accordingly to the finishers. Or, am i totally off track here given those that had the winner would get screwed?

PSH

Everyone takes that risk when they place their bets. The people whose horses hit the board should be able to cash their tickets.

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

I didn't care to watch the replay but the report of him lying on his back made me think it could have been a possibility.

Could be,but I think his right front leg was the problem.Guess it doesn't make much difference.Lets just hope it's the only one for a couple weeks.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by georgewashington

If they were not having so many problems with their track I would give them the benefit of the doubt, but do you know how rare a heart attack is? Watch the race, he took a bad step. Might not have been the track, there are accidents that just happen, but it looked like a bad step and this often happens due to an inconsistency in the track.

When you look at Aqueducts numbers at the end of the meet, and the fact that they can't even get their main track operational, I have to believe polytrack would be much safer.

You have an agenda so your misguided comments carry no weight. The problems, which are circumspect at best, are with the main track. These races are taking place over the inner which is as safe as any dirt track in the country.

Mountain General is an 8YO cheap claiming sprinter who was being asked to go 1 1/8 miles for the first time in 55 career starts. While his accident is unfortunate, it happens at tracks around the country, and any blame does not lie on the surface more than a surface can be blamed for any accident. These things happen in racing, on dirt, on turf, and yes on polytack, so pretending somehow the surface is to blame is folly.

This " NYRA should install polytack " kind of talk is insane. The franchise is in limbo, the real possibility exists that someone else will be running it in just over a year, the track has financial difficulties, the State refuses to authorize slots even though every other track awarded them has been given the go-ahead, but somehow people are insisting NYRA spend upwards of $8 million to install a racing surface? Now, when the franchise has been settled, and slots are in, even though I am at least dubious about Polytrack, certainly they should at least look into installing it. And they will. But, for now it makes absolutely zero sense, other than an insipid need to continually berate NYRA for anything that goes wrong, even though it happens everywhere, and this makes no sense. A horse broke down on the Churchill surface on BC Day. I assume you made the same comments about their surface....you know, the one Barbaro won the Derby over.

[georgewashington]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

You have an agenda so your misguided comments carry no weight. The problems, which are circumspect at best, are with the main track. These races are taking place over the inner which is as safe as any dirt track in the country.

Mountain General is an 8YO cheap claiming sprinter who was being asked to go 1 1/8 miles for the first time in 55 career starts. While his accident is unfortunate, it happens at tracks around the country, and any blame does not lie on the surface more than a surface can be blamed for any accident. These things happen in racing, on dirt, on turf, and yes on polytack, so pretending somehow the surface is to blame is folly.

This " NYRA should install polytack " kind of talk is insane. The franchise is in limbo, the real possibility exists that someone else will be running it in just over a year, the track has financial difficulties, the State refuses to authorize slots even though every other track awarded them has been given the go-ahead, but somehow people are insisting NYRA spend upwards of $8 million to install a racing surface? Now, when the franchise has been settled, and slots are in, even though I am at least dubious about Polytrack, certainly they should at least look into installing it. And they will. But, for now it makes absolutely zero sense, other than an insipid need to continually berate NYRA for anything that goes wrong, even though it happens everywhere, and this makes no sense. A horse broke down on the Churchill surface on BC Day. I assume you made the same comments about their surface....you know, the one Barbaro won the Derby over.

I have no agenda. I don't own polytrack. I don't think Belmont or Saratoga should get rid of the dirt tracks, but Aqueduct is ridiculous. The main track is out of business for days because they don't know how to take care of it, so why should I believe the inner track is safe? Aqueduct is winter racing. All winter racing should be on polytrack for the safety of horses. Dirt tracks in cold weather are very dangerous and very hard on horses.

I put horses health first, you seem to put gamblers (and their dislike of poly because their thorograph sheets are useless) first. Do you care about horses or are they just numbers to you that you bet on and then watch them be taken away in the truck when they are done?

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by georgewashington

I have no agenda. I don't own polytrack. I don't think Belmont or Saratoga should get rid of the dirt tracks, but Aqueduct is ridiculous. The main track is out of business for days because they don't know how to take care of it, so why should I believe the inner track is safe? Aqueduct is winter racing. All winter racing should be on polytrack for the safety of horses. Dirt tracks in cold weather are very dangerous and very hard on horses.

I put horses health first, you seem to put gamblers (and their dislike of poly because their thorograph sheets are useless) first. Do you care about horses or are they just numbers to you that you bet on and then watch them be taken away in the truck when they are done?

The same maintenance crew works Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga, so your opinion is completely contradictory.

The " If you don't like Polytrack you don't care about the safety of horses " argument is only used by people who have an indefensible position and know it. Your following idiocy only further stresses your lack of a defensible argument. I said I was " dubious " of Polytrack, and unlike zealots like yourself, and yes you have clearly established an anti-NYRA agenda on this site, I prefer to take a wait and see approach about the surface. As another poster stated here, Woodbine is having huge problems with their surface, so regardless of what you would like people to believe these Polytrack surfaces have NOT proven to be better for racing all around.

If you care so much about the safety of horses, as I'm sure your interests in this game are not at all financially motivated, then why haven't you organized a PETA demonstration in front of racetracks around the country? Surely you aren't going to insist that this sport is only concerned with the safety of animals. If that was the case horse racing would be shut down immediately.

[georgewashington]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

The same maintenance crew works Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga, so your opinion is completely contradictory.

The " If you don't like Polytrack you don't care about the safety of horses " argument is only used by people who have an indefensible position and know it. Your following idiocy only further stresses your lack of a defensible argument. I said I was " dubious " of Polytrack, and unlike zealots like yourself, and yes you have clearly established an anti-NYRA agenda on this site, I prefer to take a wait and see approach about the surface. As another poster stated here, Woodbine is having huge problems with their surface, so regardless of what you would like people to believe these Polytrack surfaces have NOT proven to be better for racing all around.

If you care so much about the safety of horses, as I'm sure your interests in this game are not at all financially motivated, then why haven't you organized a PETA demonstration in front of racetracks around the country? Surely you aren't going to insist that this sport is only concerned with the safety of animals. If that was the case horse racing would be shut down immediately.

The maintenance crew this year didn't take care of the other tracks while they were away. They said they couldn't afford it. Belmont was taken care of by a skeleton crew while they were at Saratoga. Everyone knows this, atleast everyone that claims to know the game.

Woodbine is not having huge problems. Do you just make up things?

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=35063

Why is Pletcher and other like Dutrow heading off to run on it?

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by georgewashington

The maintenance crew this year didn't take care of the other tracks while they were away. They said they couldn't afford it. Belmont was taken care of by a skeleton crew while they were at Saratoga. Everyone knows this, atleast everyone that claims to know the game.

Woodbine is not having huge problems. Do you just make up things?

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=35063

Why is Pletcher and other like Dutrow heading off to run on it?

There was an extensive article on DRF last week about the problems at Woodbine. It is no longer in their archives but I will reprint it momentarily.

Pletcher and Dutrow will be doing the bulk of their California racing on the dirt course at Santa Anita. The reaon Todd is going, and this is obvious to anybody without an agenda, is simply a numbers one. He has too many horses in all the conditions to only run at Aqueduct and Gulfstream.

Keep 'em coming.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by georgewashington

The maintenance crew this year didn't take care of the other tracks while they were away. They said they couldn't afford it. Belmont was taken care of by a skeleton crew while they were at Saratoga. Everyone knows this, atleast everyone that claims to know the game.

Woodbine is not having huge problems. Do you just make up things?

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=35063

Why is Pletcher and other like Dutrow heading off to run on it?

woodbine IS having problems. evidently you missed that article. the wax isn't holding the other garbage in the track together. too much fiber coming to the top, and now they are allowing toe grabs to try to help the horses get a grip on it. the cold weather is the key there. just like it would be in new york. turfway had to rework their track after one year of the stuff. this new stuff is not the panacea it was sold as being.

[packerbacker7964]

Buy your track and install what in the hell you want. Poly-track cost a ****load of money. Where in the hell do you get that kind of dough?

[randallscott35]

TO me Mountain General is an example of a horse who was raced too long. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a cripple but this was a serious stakes horse once upon a time. Bluesthestandard redux, but not as bad b/c jockeys would actually get on this one in the morning. Some of these geldings deserve homes instead of being raced into the ground....And I don't buy the track nonsense. I've seen very little problems with the inner over the past decade. And I've always though the main was good too. In fact all the NY tracks are safe.

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

TO me Mountain General is an example of a horse who was raced too long. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a cripple but this was a serious stakes horse once upon a time. ...Some of these geldings deserve homes instead of being raced into the ground.

I still remember his battles with Bonapaw and Abajo at FG and Churchill. He was a darn good closing sprinter, a G3 winner at CD. His APR record indicates that he had run at a mile or beyond 3 times before 2005, with a win and a third, by the way. It is sad to see grand old warriors like this fall down the class ladder.

[ELA]

Originally Posted by georgewashington

I have no agenda. I don't own polytrack. I don't think Belmont or Saratoga should get rid of the dirt tracks, but Aqueduct is ridiculous. The main track is out of business for days because they don't know how to take care of it, so why should I believe the inner track is safe? Aqueduct is winter racing. All winter racing should be on polytrack for the safety of horses. Dirt tracks in cold weather are very dangerous and very hard on horses.

I put horses health first, you seem to put gamblers (and their dislike of poly because their thorograph sheets are useless) first. Do you care about horses or are they just numbers to you that you bet on and then watch them be taken away in the truck when they are done?

The main is out not because they don't know how to take care of it -- it's because they know; and what they know is the way to take care of it after the water damage is with time. There has been no commentary about the inner. It is a completey different surface. I am a supporter of the alternative track surfaces but to just use that as an end all or cure all answer is not the answer in my opinion.

More importantly, any news on Jose?

Eric