First of all, "a couple of horses" did not break down in 6.5F races on the Hill Course. The numbers were significantly higher than in any other distance or surface. I love the Hill Course, and am sad to see it go, but I understand why they felt a need to make a change.
That being said, there is really no comparison between horses crossing the dirt course shortly after the break, as they did on Sunday, and crossing the dirt 4.5 furlongs into a race, just as the course is leveling off after a fairly steep incline, after horses have just completed the first half mile in as low as 42 seconds and change. Frankly, Sunday's race is comparable to the American Oaks on Saturday, where they ran the very first part of the race down the hill. No argument that it looks kind of ugly, and clearly some horses seem a bit confused ( for lack of a better word ) but I don't think it is even reasonably close to the same safety risk that the Downhill course seemed to create in 6.5F races.
I'm no fan of the Stronach Group, but especially given the myriad of things you can criticize them about, this one seems like they are trying to make the best of a difficult situation. I applaud them for at least trying to find a solution. That's something we in racing need to do more often.
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