Del Mar...OFF the turf thru Sun. Aug. 3rd...

[sammy the sage]

Del Mar's Twitter

@DelMarRacing: URGENT: Turf races moved to the polytrack for the remainder of the week. More info to come.

https://www.dmtc.com/media/news/turf-races-moved-to-polytrack-for-remainder-of-week-184

Press release from Del Mar

""Del Mar Thoroughbred Club feels deep sorrow and great concern following a further injury on our turf course during racing on Thursday afternoon.

We continue to be of the belief that Del Mars turf course is safe for our horses and riders. Our crews have performed extensive maintenance measures to enhance that safety and those measures and the course itself met with the approval of safety officials from the California Horse Racing Board this past Tuesday.

Nonetheless, given this additional injury on our turf course, we now will discontinue racing on it for the remained of this week. We will continue efforts to improve the course during this down time and hope to resume racing on it in the near future.""

:bang: :bang: :bang: :( :( :(

[Clocker]

We continue to be of the belief that Del Mars turf course is safe for our horses and riders.

I wonder what the trainers and jockeys had to say about that.

Good thing they have such a great poly track for all their races now. Or not. From the San Diego Union-Tribune (http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jul/19/del-mar-polytrack-wax/):

The beast that is the Polytrack continues to disrupt Del Mar.

The Polytrack has been safe, but trainers and jockeys are aware of an inside speed bias that was present for two weeks last year. Once a speed horse gets out and into the inside lanes, closers are finding it impossible to catch and pass them.

Track superintendent Richard Tedesco ordered wax to be applied on the track to help cool and tighten it during racing hours, but there’s been a delay in the wax getting to Del Mar. Instead of applying it Monday as hoped, Tedesco said the wax won’t get here until July 28, a week later than planned. The earliest he could apply it would be the next day, Tuesday, also a dark day at Del Mar without racing.

“It’s being brought by truck from Philadelphia, and they have to stop every so often to heat it and keep it melted,” Tedesco said. “It takes six days to get it here.”

Tedesco will be glad when the Polytrack, now in its eighth season at Del Mar, is ripped out after the November meeting and replaced with El Segundo sand from the excavation sites for new runways at Los Angeles Airport. Santa Anita is adding the same exact material to its track, so next year, all Southern California tracks will be dirt.

“I can’t wait,” Tedesco said. “Not that you can’t have some problems with dirt, but they’re a lot less than dealing with this. It’s one thing after another with this track.”



Blood-Horse (http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/86470/del-mar-makes-adjustment-to-slow-polytrack) reports that the wax was added to the track on July 29.

[Tom]

Pathetic.
You run 6 lousy weeks a year and you can't get the GD wax in your hands on time?

Who got fired for this?
Someone should.

[burnsy]

Well, there were several posters raving about the "facilities" out there....calling Belmont a dump. Like this has not happened before. Between SA and Del Mar I should look up how many horses have died and how many races that have been cancelled due to "dangerous track conditions". Damn the facts, it's a joke when these internet people run their mouths. There is a history of these surfaces being bad for years now. Before the poly even got there. Of course, that was a total cluster f@ck too! Oh, but it doesn't rain there. That's what they are worried about?.....the freakin weather? What's their BC marketing slogan going to be?

"Bring your Grade 1 horse here......they're dying to enter."

[Fingal]

I'd say Joe Harper gots some 'splaining to do to thems Breeder's Cup people.

They can not be too pleased over the current state of events.

[dilanesp]

Well, there were several posters raving about the "facilities" out there....calling Belmont a dump. Like this has not happened before. Between SA and Del Mar I should look up how many horses have died and how many races that have been cancelled due to "dangerous track conditions". Damn the facts, it's a joke when these internet people run their mouths. There is a history of these surfaces being bad for years now. Before the poly even got there. Of course, that was a total cluster f@ck too! Oh, but it doesn't rain there. That's what they are worried about?.....the freakin weather? What's their BC marketing slogan going to be?

"Bring your Grade 1 horse here......they're dying to enter."

Santa Anita had awful problems with Poly, because of drainage, but the dirt and grass courses perform reasonably well.

Del Morgue, before this season, was one of the safest tracks in America with its old turf course and Poly. When Del Morgue had dirt, it was much less safe.

I don't think Belmont's a dump at all. I think it's a great place to host the BC. But there are serious impasses between NYRA and the BC, and the BC also makes a lot less money there than it does at other tracks.

Having said that, NYRA's tracks have a very mixed safety record themselves. What you CAN say about NYRA as opposed to Del Morgue right now is that their turf courses are not screwed up-- those nice upstate New York rains produce 2 beautiful courses at Saratoga which are both very gentle on horses' hoofs.

[Rex Phinney]

Just no excuse for the state of Del Mar's surface right now.

California tracks had to deal with a science experiment in a way with the poly tracks. Thank god those are on their way out.

This turf course thing is totally different. It's no science experiment and has went basically as awful as anyone could have imagined. This should have been a smooth transition from the old turf to the new.

Del Mar needs to take a serious look at their fair vs. racing calender. For years they have been operating as anything but a racetrack right up until the time the horses start arriving, then try to turn into a horse track overnight. When you operate like that this is what happens. Next to no preparation and right now it is showing.

[Stillriledup]

the poly there is crap right now, extreme speed/rail biases.....the added wax was supposed to make it more fair, but yesterday they had the biggest speed bias of the meet imo.

The track doesn't resemble the track we saw in 2007 where closers could come from everywhere, that's not the case anymore.

Funny how Golden Gate's tapeta is a much more fair surface, its somewhat hard to wire the field at GG, but you can...the track looks nice and plays nice, you don't see that incredible kickback flying around like you do at DMR.

[Clocker]

This turf course thing is totally different. It's no science experiment and has went basically as awful as anyone could have imagined. This should have been a smooth transition from the old turf to the new.



According to an article in the DRF (http://www.drf.com/news/hovdey-del-mar-turf-course-needs-time-mature), the new track was properly installed. The problem with it is that the installation schedule did not allow for the turf to mature to racing condition. The grass must be allowed to mature to form a safe racing surface, and that includes a solid growth season through a full summer. Good news! The course should be in great shape by about October.

The newly installed Del Mar grass course is pristine. It is impossible to take a “bad step” anywhere, any more than it would be possible to stumble on the 18th green at Augusta National. That has been the good news.

The bad news is that the newly installed Del Mar grass course is newly installed. Its root system is still taking hold. There is none of the lively bounce of a mature Bermuda course, like the one over which recent Breeders’ Cups have been run at Santa Anita.

Unfortunately, the economic tyranny of the racing calendar did not allow enough time for the new course to mature. The optimum growing season for a newly installed Bermuda grass course is July, August, and into warm September. Del Mar races in July, August, and into September.

This left course superintendent Leif Dickinson to push growth as much as he could, given the environmental restrictions on extreme fertilization options in the ecologically sensitive area surrounding Del Mar. He cut the course as often as he dared to encourage growth, all the while concerned with compacting the ground with equipment traffic. What he came up with was a course he declared as “good, and will only get better.”

[Clocker]

Pathetic.
You run 6 lousy weeks a year and you can't get the GD wax in your hands on time?



Wax? Wax is for skis. Maybe the problem is that the horses are wearing waxless shoes. Put some cross-country shoes on those horses, and hot wax them.

[Rex Phinney]

the poly there is crap right now, extreme speed/rail biases.....the added wax was supposed to make it more fair, but yesterday they had the biggest speed bias of the meet imo.

The track doesn't resemble the track we saw in 2007 where closers could come from everywhere, that's not the case anymore.

Funny how Golden Gate's tapeta is a much more fair surface, its somewhat hard to wire the field at GG, but you can...the track looks nice and plays nice, you don't see that incredible kickback flying around like you do at DMR.

Forget the speed bias, there is a significant amount of horsemen that just don't like the surface. When you talk to trainers out here they all say how they will avoid running at Del Mar if it is possible. They all talk about soft tissue problems, that even if horses aren't breaking down on the poly, they are being sidelined from injuries.

If their biggest problem was a speed bias for a 6 week meet, we would all be better off.

[Rex Phinney]

According to an article in the DRF (http://www.drf.com/news/hovdey-del-mar-turf-course-needs-time-mature), the new track was properly installed. The problem with it is that the installation schedule did not allow for the turf to mature to racing condition. The grass must be allowed to mature to form a safe racing surface, and that includes a solid growth season through a full summer. Good news! The course should be in great shape by about October.

It's unacceptable either way. Part of a proper installation is a good assessment of the growth period and the challenges that come with it. They should have better known what they had when the meet started. Again if they had some horses, trainers etc. there longer than a week before the meet started they could have had an idea. They would have been better off to leave turf racing dark the first three weeks or even skip the entire meet. What they have done now is make it even worse by creating the PR nightmare.

And sending the horses back out there calling the surface safe and then another one breaks down is ridiculous. They thought they where going to fix it in 3 days???????

[Clocker]

It's unacceptable either way. Part of a proper installation is a good assessment of the growth period and the challenges that come with it.

Agreed. The course superintendent had to know about the potential problems. If management went ahead despite warnings, the onus is on them.

[Stillriledup]

Forget the speed bias, there is a significant amount of horsemen that just don't like the surface. When you talk to trainers out here they all say how they will avoid running at Del Mar if it is possible. They all talk about soft tissue problems, that even if horses aren't breaking down on the poly, they are being sidelined from injuries.

If their biggest problem was a speed bias for a 6 week meet, we would all be better off.

Can't argue.

[Dark Horse]

Let's hope they learn their lessons. Can't get any worse from here.

Man, I was looking forward to this meet. Can't wait for it to be over.

[Stillriledup]

Let's hope they learn their lessons. Can't get any worse from here.

Man, I was looking forward to this meet. Can't wait for it to be over.

I think the lesson was that Polytrack is crap and bettors didn't want to bet races run on it, so, if that's the lesson, than, its lesson learned.

Didn't DMR used to have a lush and deep turf course many years ago? you know, high grass where the horse's foot would disappear into the ground because the blades were so high?

[dilanesp]

Didn't DMR used to have a lush and deep turf course many years ago? you know, high grass where the horse's foot would disappear into the ground because the blades were so high?

Yeah, but they didn't used to have a fall meet. I'm convinced the reason they switched to short bermuda grass is because they needed something that could grow faster, because they no longer have nine months downtime.

[Stillriledup]

Yeah, but they didn't used to have a fall meet. I'm convinced the reason they switched to short bermuda grass is because they needed something that could grow faster, because they no longer have nine months downtime.

That makes sense.

But, haven't they had this "short grass" for years, even before a fall meet was a consideration?

[dilanesp]

Forget the speed bias, there is a significant amount of horsemen that just don't like the surface. When you talk to trainers out here they all say how they will avoid running at Del Mar if it is possible. They all talk about soft tissue problems, that even if horses aren't breaking down on the poly, they are being sidelined from injuries.

If their biggest problem was a speed bias for a 6 week meet, we would all be better off.

Maybe it's from my real job (my profession is famous for overstating the "soft tissue" injury), but I'm somewhat skeptical of trainers' claims about this. All the statistics show that synthetic tracks are safer. The reason why people claim "soft tissue" injuries is because nobody can prove they are lying. So it's a good way for trainers who don't want synthetic tracks to make a claim that nobody can test.

[dilanesp]

That makes sense.

But, haven't they had this "short grass" for years, even before a fall meet was a consideration?

Nope, this is a brand new course. They've never had bermuda grass before.

BHP used to have it, and they had all sorts of trouble with their turf course when they did. (If you've read Andy Beyer's books, the infamous Fiction-Breakfast Table pick 6 story occurred because they took the last race of the meeting off the turf due to holes in the bermuda grass at BHP.)

[Rex Phinney]

Maybe it's from my real job (my profession is famous for overstating the "soft tissue" injury), but I'm somewhat skeptical of trainers' claims about this. All the statistics show that synthetic tracks are safer. The reason why people claim "soft tissue" injuries is because nobody can prove they are lying. So it's a good way for trainers who don't want synthetic tracks to make a claim that nobody can test.

I don't view it as war on synthetics by the trainers.

The ones I have spoken to it's specific to Del Mar. Never heard a peep about Hollywood Park and still don't have any issues with Golden Gate. People will run there, train there, no problem.

FWIW I'm a big fan of Del Mar, I just think so many of their problems are centered around the fact they aren't a full time committed horse track. I was hoping to see big changes with the closure of Hollywood, that maybe Del Mar would step up and really try to get more time dedicated around the facility to just racing. So far that hasn't happened. They pretty much just added the fall dates and kept everything business as usual. So now it's a horse track 10 weeks a year instead of just 6.

[dilanesp]

FWIW I'm a big fan of Del Mar, I just think so many of their problems are centered around the fact they aren't a full time committed horse track. I was hoping to see big changes with the closure of Hollywood, that maybe Del Mar would step up and really try to get more time dedicated around the facility to just racing. So far that hasn't happened. They pretty much just added the fall dates and kept everything business as usual. So now it's a horse track 10 weeks a year instead of just 6.

I think that's a very sagacious critique of Del Mar's management.

And the BC should seriously consider taking a step back and going to Belmont (or Santa Anita) in 2017. I'm not at all convinced that the people who run things down where the turf meets the surf are ready for prime time.

[BlueShoe]

Perhaps they should just announce now that no turf racing will be conducted during the fall meet? Take the time off to get it right and wait until next summer.

[PaceAdvantage]

Good thing this didn't happen at NYRA. Who knows who would be running the place now if it did... :rolleyes:

[dilanesp]

Good thing this didn't happen at NYRA. Who knows who would be running the place now if it did... :rolleyes:

NYRA's got 99 problems but a turf course ain't one.

[so.cal.fan]

Blue Shoe is right.
Del Mar should cancel the fall meet. Replace that track completely.
No BC should be run there on that current turf course, and the concrete condition of the main track.
We will not be betting there.
I worry about the condition of horses coming back to Santa Anita and Los Alamitos.
The unfortunate closure of Hollywood Park is becoming all too clear.....it's hurting, it's actually devastating.
:(

[BlueShoe]

I worry about the condition of horses coming back to Santa Anita and Los Alamitos.
The unfortunate closure of Hollywood Park is becoming all too clear.....it's hurting, it's actually devastating.
:(
How attitudes and things quickly change. We had short fields at the inuguaral Los Al meet because the trainers were waiting for Del Mar. With the concerns over Del Mar, now things seem to be reversed, with the horsemen wanting to get back to Los Al and most likely, Santa Anita.

[so.cal.fan]

I'm going to sadly predict that ONE more breakdown, there will be much discussion on the fall meet even running.

[SandyW]

Here we go again, coming soon, short, and shorter fields at Del Mar.

The setting is beautiful, the racing is terrible on Poly Concrete.

[thespaah]

Here we go again, coming soon, short, and shorter fields at Del Mar.

The setting is beautiful, the racing is terrible on Poly Concrete.
"plasticrete".... :lol:

[Al Gobbi]

With the very high purses at Del Mar, you also have to wonder if it is leading trainers to run unsound horses in an effort to grab as much money as possible no matter the condition of the animal.

Does this sound familiar? Because this is what happened at Aqueduct in the winter a few years ago when the slots money came in and the purses got jacked up and the breakdowns increased substantially.

[Tom]

Aside from "oozing parasites," this sounds just like Aqueduct.
Many top trainers are saying there is nothing wrong with the turf course and are willing to run their horses over it.

As a player, it is easy to just say screw Del Mar and bet other tracks.
Don't know what the problem is nor care at all.

Don't have to.

When the steak comes of the kitchen well done, I don't ask why, I just go elsewhere for diner. I don't care what their problems are. What has Dem Mar ever done for me to make me give a hoot?

[elhelmete]

1) Horsemen/horses were a little worn out at the end of the Santa Anita meet.
2) Los Al has no turf course; nowhere for turfers to run with HOL gone. They all wait for DMR
3) High purses at DMR as usual
4) Maybe I'm projecting but I definitely feel like I saw much more aggressive riding on the grass at the beginning of the DMR meet. Connections came in loaded and primed, after being idled during Los Al's no-turf meeting.

[burnsy]

Aside from "oozing parasites," this sounds just like Aqueduct.
Many top trainers are saying there is nothing wrong with the turf course and are willing to run their horses over it.

As a player, it is easy to just say screw Del Mar and bet other tracks.
Don't know what the problem is nor care at all.

Don't have to.

When the steak comes of the kitchen well done, I don't ask why, I just go elsewhere for diner. I don't care what their problems are. What has Dem Mar ever done for me to make me give a hoot?


Sounds like me. I'm the same way. The problem is my girlfriend, she'll bitch about her meal. I just won't go back there again. If I have to complain, most times I'm done................I've been done with that place since poly.

[Al Gobbi]

there are ten scratches off the program for tomorrow's all-poly eight race card, a lot higher than you normally see for overnight scratches on any card of racing at a SoCal track.

[Stillriledup]

there are ten scratches off the program for tomorrow's all-poly eight race card, a lot higher than you normally see for overnight scratches on any card of racing at a SoCal track.

Scratches at DMR are supposed to be rare. I don't mind the vigilance, but when they start scratching horses with 1 MTP, that screws with the pick 4s and pick 5s. If they want to be taking horses out 1 MTP, they need to change the rules of those bets to offer conso payouts, getting stuck on the favorite is tough.

They scratched a lone speed from Race 2 the other day and that changed the entire complexion of the race, i'm sure plenty of people would have handicapped or bet differently had she been scratched at 11am like she should have.

[horses4courses]

Looking back on some of the knee-jerk reactionary posts,
was there even a single breakdown on the DMR turf this fall?

I wasn't aware of any, but I didn't watch that many races.
I know handle and attendance were reported positively,
so it appears that someone knew what they were doing.

Doesn't bring back the horses that were lost this summer,
but at least things got better.