Holllywood Park Polytrack "adjusted"

[karlskorner]

Snip from cbsSportsline.com

"Cusion Track gets workover.

Hollywood Park officials adjusted the maintenance routine of the tracks synethetic main track on Wed. after some trainers expressed concern that the course had become deep and jockeys said the surface was producing more kickback during races.

A three-stage maintenance program began shortly after training ended on Wed. The track was bladed, rolled and then harrowed in an effort to make the course tighter, according to track super Dennis Moore. A tighter track allows horses to run over the top of it, and reduces kickback.

I've a couple of compaints about it" Moore said of the track. "It's still a good safe track. We're working on it and we're learning about it" The track, Moore said "is very WEATHER SENSITIVE"

Moore said the maintenance routine would not compact the track, but would leave it more condensed. "It doesn't compact like dirt, it's not a hard compact" he said.

Tuesday jockey Richard Migliore said he had horses that "slipped and stumbled" on the surface. Jockey Davide Flores described it as "loose " and said the track is like that "off and on"

Durings workouts on Wed. morning Migliore said he worked a horse "that was nearly exhausted. I nearly pulled him up"

"You don't know how it's playing" said trainer Richard Matlow. "One day it's speed holding and the other they're coming off of it. You don't know what to tell your rider"

[PaceAdvantage]

Sounds like a dream....and here I thought Hollywood's surface would be the best of the bunch....

[Tom]

There goes yet another track profile. :mad:

[Edward DeVere]

Sounds like a gold mine for any handicapper willing and able to keep trip and bias notes on a daily basis.

Example: Horse who died as inside early speed in a route race at Keeneland paid $18.80 at Churchill today.

[bobphilo]

All I’m hearing is that the track is getting maintenance – something that dirt tracks require a hell of a lot more of. It sounds like Hollywood is just staying on top of things so that the all the anti-poly people don’t have any excuse to trash the track. Not even a hint that the track is returning to the pre-poly levels of injuries.

On the topic of maintenance; to mistake dirt surfaces with the native soil that these surfaces replace is a huge mistake. Unlike Poly and Cushion Track, dirt tracks require a huge army of maintenance equipment to prevent them from returning to a natural state and the only thing that thrives on then is bacteria, which loves dirt.

Let us not confuse “traditional” dirt tracks with the natural grass surface that horses evolved to run on over millions of years. NATURE LAUGHS AT TRADITION. Polytrack most closely resembles the natural grass surface, unlike dirt, which was only introduced as a means to sustain unlimited racing without regard to the horses’ health. The advantage of synthetic surfaces is that they can stand up to the high volume of racing that dirt does while maintaining the natural shock-absorbing qualities and safety of grass.



Bob

[thelyingthief]

and for all these years, i was thinking plants loved dirt.

ah, enlightenment.

[bobphilo]

and for all these years, i was thinking plants loved dirt.

ah, enlightenment.

I haven't seen many plants growing on the dirt on tracks - hardly gardening soil. Plenty of microbes and bacteria, though. :mad: :eek: LOL

Bob

[dungheap]

I am uk based and we have had a couple of polytracks ( lingfield, southall)for 12 years or so. Because we had no "dirt tracks" (we call them All weather AW) before only turf lots of research and statistics have been done on these "different tracks".

The consensus seems to be that the middle of the track is better than the inside (its hard to harrow against the rails for maintainance staff) and that front runners tend to be at a slight disadvantage. Also the materiel forms small clusters and these migrate to the inside during the harowing process. Sometimes maintainance staff deep harrow and it takes weeks for the course to settle down again.

But the biggest thing we noticed was that turf from did not relate to AW form, so we tend to treat AW form as a seperate entity. I'm not sure how they will relate to your "dirt" courses but as Polytrack is a mixture of sand and fibre bound together with oils it is probably not so different.

In conclusion I tend to avoid low and high draws in races 1 mile and less and look for horses who don't like a hard surface on turf in fact in 5 and 6 furlong races the winner usually comes from about 3 or 4 horses, hope this helps you all.

[socantra]

I haven't seen many plants growing on the dirt on tracks - hardly gardening soil. Plenty of microbes and bacteria, though. :mad: :eek: LOL

Bob

Oaklawn Park grows a very healthy head high crop of assorted weeds and grasses on the main track in the summer when its not being used. I was really surprised to see it the 1st time I showed up at the simulcasting facility.

socantra

[bobphilo]

Oaklawn Park grows a very healthy head high crop of assorted weeds and grasses on the main track in the summer when its not being used. I was really surprised to see it the 1st time I showed up at the simulcasting facility.

socantra

Yes, life is very persistent and dirt tracks will eventually return to a “natural” state (whatever that is) if not heavily maintained like active tracks. My point was that though dirt tracks, though made up of natural components, are kept from reverting to the natural state and eco-system that would otherwise flourish.

Actually the argument in defense of dirt tracks on the basis of they’re being natural is a poor one in any case. Rocks and mountains are “natural” but would not be safe racing surfaces. The main advantage of grass is not so much that it is natural as much as it it is the surface that horses, through millions of years evolved to run on. That is why there are less injuries and horses hold their form longer on grass. Synthetic tracks, though consisting of man–made components, are specifically designed to most resemble the horses’ natural grass surface in terms of how they react to the force of the hoof’s impact and shock absorption. Dirt tracks were developed to sustain heavy volumes of racing and intense maintenance without matching the properties of grass. Synthetic tracks were also designed to do this while retaining the safety advantages of grass.

Bob