Post BC thoughts
In no particular order, here they are:
--I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the BC Classic was run on Dirt at Monmouth, Belmont or Churchill—I think Curlin would have won on any of those surfaces and been the 2 time BC Classic Winner and overwhelming 2008 Horse of the Year. I just have that nagging feeling that Curlin was a victim of the Pro-ride Surface
--Horse of the Year—let me think about this for a while –Zenyatta-awesome, I think she is a monster horse-but than again 8 of 9 wins are on Synthetics with most wins against the same group of horses over on the left coast.
--The Pro-ride track—some of the races reminded me of a harness race where the horses all line up and the in the last 100 yards they all dash to the finish. Also with no crown on the track it allows for more wide sweeping turns. This surface is just weird to me and I remain a dirt track fan who just wants a natural surface.
--Randy Moss on ESPN said after the classic that the Pro ride is a much safer surface than dirt (he cited the lack of any serious injuries over the 2 day BC Classic). I thought that was a premature statement. There are no definitive statistics that indicate the synthetic tracks are any safer than dirt tracks. There have been 5 fatal break downs over the Pro ride surface this fall at Santa Anita.
--On a Positive note the racing over the 2 days was good with some great performances including Goldikova, Zenyatta, Stardom Bound, Midnite Lute, Forever Together, Muhhanak, Raven's Pass and Midshipman.
A thank you goes out to the good folks at Thorofan for the Breeders Cup Party at the Saratoga Gaming and Raceway where the Cup was shown at the Vapor Club on the largest TV screen I ever saw. Made for a very convenient and enjoyable way to watch and bet the races.
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2 comments:
When turf horses run 1-2 in the classic, and at the same time the best dirt horse in the world finishes out of the top 3 for the first time in his career... well, if I was a trainer I wouldn't take my horse anywhere near any of the BC "dirt" races next year.
I like the idea behind synthetics, but as you say it's way to premature to consider them the best thing ever from a safety point or otherwise. My personal lean on the subject would be that a properly maintained dirt track can be just as safe... but there is no data to back that up either. Perhaps the new injury tracking system will help to shed some light on the subject.
In the meantime, I would like to see synthetics classified as their own surface, or something. The BC is too important to try and pretend that synthetics are interchangeable with dirt. It just simply doesn't work that way.
Nick-Give me 5 years of hard data on the synthetics-I am all for change if it helps the horse and helps the sport-just don't want to be premature and jump onto something we all don't know too much about yet.
as for your ideas on classifying it as a 3rd surface-why not?
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