Poly vs. Dirt article

[john del riccio]

I find this article very insighful and I tend to agree for the most part.



http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=43400


JOhn

[Dave Schwartz]

Good article. Thanks, John.

[Capper Al]

Good article. It's a brave new world for handicappers. A good starting point for the artificial surfaces would be to standardize the mixture and the depth for all tracks. Maybe we could get some consistency from having only one universal surface. This might even bring back pace handicapping.

[46zilzal]

One surface? Exactly what we do not want.

Horses for courses is, and will be the standard now and for a very very long time. NONE of these synthetics are close to the same other than maybe Kee and AP.

[njcurveball]

One surface? Exactly what we do not want.

.


GRASS PLEASE! :ThmbUp:

[Capper Al]

Good article. It's a brave new world for handicappers. A good starting point for the artificial surfaces would be to standardize the mixture and the depth for all tracks. Maybe we could get some consistency from having only one universal surface. This might even bring back pace handicapping.

What I meant here was that all polytracks should have the same composition and depth. Hopefully, this would make the comparison between polytracks more apples to apples.

[DanG]

What I meant here was that all polytracks should have the same composition and depth. Hopefully, this would make the comparison between polytracks more apples to apples.
Curious;

Why doesn’t this same logic apply to Charlestown and Calder?

[46zilzal]

What I meant here was that all polytracks should have the same composition and depth. Hopefully, this would make the comparison between polytracks more apples to apples.
Just the surface would not make them all uniform. Cushions vary widely even with the same top layer.

[Tom]

The best pace spots right now are on poly. It never went anywhere - it just raised the bar.:D

[kenwoodallpromos]

All it takes to change the depth of harrowing is touching a lever near the tractor steering wheel as it approached the stretch.

[maxwell]

I'm sure there was a time when racetracks were nothing more than cornfields that were ploughed and raked over. When modern dirt tracks arrived on the scene, I wonder if drainage, cushion, and banked curves were problem-free?

I think the problems we are seeing now will be ironed out in the near future. Handicapping-wise, I like the idea of knowing tracks are "fast" 24/7. Fast as in no mud or slop.

There's a steep learning curve to perfecting these surfaces ( if that's possible ). But like it or not, you can't stop progress ... as the old axe goes.

[Capper Al]

I'm sure there was a time when racetracks were nothing more than cornfields that were ploughed and raked over. When modern dirt tracks arrived on the scene, I wonder if drainage, cushion, and banked curves were problem-free?

I think the problems we are seeing now will be ironed out in the near future. Handicapping-wise, I like the idea of knowing tracks are "fast" 24/7. Fast as in no mud or slop.

There's a steep learning curve to perfecting these surfaces ( if that's possible ). But like it or not, you can't stop progress ... as the old axe goes.

I agree and, if it is safer for jockeys and horses, poly tracks should stay. It would be nice to have some poly track standard on mixture and depth, but again this could be handled by some sort of new track surface variant. Handicapping will change, and Pace has to redefine itself.