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View Full Version : SA going back to dirt at some point, but the others stay pat?


Stillriledup
01-22-2010, 06:39 AM
Reading an article on DRF about Santa Anita hoping to race on Saturday. A comment by Del Mar management has me concerned. They're not even considering going back to dirt. They're making comments about drainage....i don't get that at all, there's zero rain at Del Mar in the summer, rain is not something they ever have to worry about, yet the guy in charge is saying "hey, our track is draining great, we don't have to change"

Uh, yeah you do.

As a serious handicapper and player of So Cal races, i'm going to pull the plug altogether on the So Cal product if Santa Anita goes back to dirt, but Hollywood and DMR stay synthetic. Since DMR is less than a 2 month meet, i would need almost a full month to see some established form in order to make a wager. If there's even one horse coming from SA's dirt track into a DMR race, i won't be able to properly handicap that race, so i won't play it.

Fast forward to Oak Tree. Most horses will be coming off Polytrack races, what you see on paper will mean absolutely nothing, and since Oak Tree is only a 5 week meet, before you get any established form, the meet is going to be over.

This process of 'waiting' for form to establish itself is really not something i want to be involved in.

When California decided to change over to synthetic, that crushed me. I got killed and haven't recovered. I did very well with regular dirt, i wasn't begging for any changes, but when they came, i though "ok, i'll try and adapt, we are all in the same boat". That was a HUGE mistake on my part.

I've finally figured out how to compete hard as a player on synthetic, most horses that are living in So Cal have established synthetic form and now they're going back to dirt? Ugh, i mean, this is rough stuff dealing with this nonsense.

I do want dirt, but only if all the tracks in So Cal go back to it. If DMR or Hollywood are holdouts, well, i don't know what i'm going to do. I'll probably just root for hollywood to go out of business because i know they're not going to spend money to change over when they have very little time left on this planet, so i'll have to cheer for their demise and hope Santa Anita races from January thru July........that way, i can take off 5 or 6 months and start betting Santa Anita on Dec 26th.

andymays
01-22-2010, 06:48 AM
http://www.insidesocal.com/horseracing/2010/01/santa-anita-has-lost-13.html

Excerpt:

If Baffert had his way, he would have utilized Moore's knowledge.
"That Hollywood Park surface is not bad," he said. "Dennis Moore, I don't know what he did to that track, but it's really not a bad race track. If you have a horse with brilliance, it actually shows up there. Once they get back to Santa Anita, it's like they are stuck in the mud. They just don't go anywhere. It's terrible."

Del Mar is in the same boat, according to the man who's trained three Kentucky Derby winners and has a bevy of contenders in his barn this year.
"They're stuck there, and they're so hard-headed," Baffert said. "I would hope Del Mar will do something down there, but I don't know. Or at least make it like Hollywood. If they could make it like Hollywood, it wouldn't be bad."

So why didn't Santa Anita enlist the aid of Moore? Why doesn't Del Mar get on the phone and give him a jingle?

"Because these tracks, they don't like to ask the other guys," Baffert said. "If somebody's doing well, for some reason nobody works together. Dennis Moore is the only guy that's figured these things out. So if I'm going to bring somebody in, I'll bring Dennis in and pay him to help these guys out. He's the only guy that knows. I know it sounds logical, but it's too easy, it's too simple. Everybody hates everybody in racing, and that's the problem."


http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65921

Stillriledup
01-22-2010, 06:51 AM
http://www.insidesocal.com/horseracing/2010/01/santa-anita-has-lost-13.html

Excerpt:

If Baffert had his way, he would have utilized Moore's knowledge.
"That Hollywood Park surface is not bad," he said. "Dennis Moore, I don't know what he did to that track, but it's really not a bad race track. If you have a horse with brilliance, it actually shows up there. Once they get back to Santa Anita, it's like they are stuck in the mud. They just don't go anywhere. It's terrible."

Del Mar is in the same boat, according to the man who's trained three Kentucky Derby winners and has a bevy of contenders in his barn this year.
"They're stuck there, and they're so hard-headed," Baffert said. "I would hope Del Mar will do something down there, but I don't know. Or at least make it like Hollywood. If they could make it like Hollywood, it wouldn't be bad."

So why didn't Santa Anita enlist the aid of Moore? Why doesn't Del Mar get on the phone and give him a jingle?

"Because these tracks, they don't like to ask the other guys," Baffert said. "If somebody's doing well, for some reason nobody works together. Dennis Moore is the only guy that's figured these things out. So if I'm going to bring somebody in, I'll bring Dennis in and pay him to help these guys out. He's the only guy that knows. I know it sounds logical, but it's too easy, it's too simple. Everybody hates everybody in racing, and that's the problem."


http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65921


Baffert is awesome.

andymays
01-22-2010, 06:55 AM
Baffert is awesome.


The new trainers group he is a part of is a good sign and yes he is awesome.

Read the thread! :ThmbUp:

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65938

Robert Goren
01-22-2010, 07:20 AM
I am a small better so I don't know if I count for much. I make the most money when the surfaces change back and forth. A horse runs good on dirt then runs a couple of clunkers on rubber moving back to dirt or vice-a-versa is a very good angle for me. It does take a leap of faith to bet a horse off a race 3 back and 4 month ago, but it can be very rewarding. I'd love to see a circuit with 3 months of dirt, then 3 months of poly, then back to dirt, etc. JMO