[QUOTE=andymays]These guys are unbelievable aren't they?
You want to know who's been ruining racing? There are a couple guys in the article named Harper and Casner that are playing a big role in my opinion. These are just two of the many people that pull the strings. I hope Horseplayers start paying more attention to these people and the comments they make. Astonishing stuff.
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But Harper will admit there is a difference between the Polytrack installed in 2007 and the one that was raced on this season.
"The track has changed," he said. "It's not the same track we put in. It's very susceptible to weather and temperature. I'm never happy until we have the safest track we can.
"None of us are experts on Polytrack. I think that comes from experimentation.
"We need to test to see if the fiber is gone or has the wax drifted down due to gravity.
"I guarantee something will be done."
Bill Casner, co-owner of WinStar Farm and Colonel John, loved Del Mar's track in 2007.
"The first year it was slow but safe," Casner said. "It was pretty good last year. This year it sounds like a herd of buffalo down there on the track."
Harper thinks that is a fair assessment.
"Year 1 was the ideal, safe track," he said,****"but the track was unacceptable because of the slowness. Last year, we tried to find some middle ground. This year it has changed."
The fashionable thing is to blame track superintendent Steve Wood, who had no experience with Polytrack when it was installed.
"Steve has done a good job of learning about the track," said Harper. "We've had people out from Keeneland and they say Steve is doing the right things, which makes me feel better."
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It has been very obvious that more than a few on this forum just plain hate Ca racing- some of the same ones who complained years ago about small fields and the occasional weather, low payouts, but do not want to bet the Quarterhorses. They want big fields with 1 monster horse who wins as predicted and pays out big. They denied that Ca's intnetional speeding up ofm the tracks by not watering grass and sealing dirt even when not a drop of rain was the way to go. Look at the stats in the book out recently about early spped and you will see who is complaining also. Maybe they did not follow Ca racing that closely, but it was very obvious that the intentional hardness of the Ca and of other tracks that Stronach would up buying were depleting the field sized and artificially causing early speed to prevail. Lone Star is a perfect example of the same thing. Believe it or not, a horse's natural surface may be mostly sand for Arabians, but they are lighter horses than the 16-17 hand steriodal monsters who are even at the claiming ranks today. Standardbreds from Europe were not evolving while running on 80% sand with a rock foundational base that was watered, rolled and sealed then only harrowed between 2 1/2 and 3" as was the maintainence that like Ca tracks had with Steve Woods at SA and DM. The Ca track supervisors are still the ones with the sealed speed mindset IMO. Maybe they want to learn how to maintain Plubber or maybe not. but was never made public by the CHRB why Steve Woods quit at SA just when the last Plubber adjusted material was ready to go in.
Polytrack was a dead issue from before it was on any Ca tracks because it could not be groomed fast enough. But it is true about is being said about the first year.
Then most Polytracks begin having trouble with the wax, still a problem that never really was solved. The man at the forefront of the fake dirt being used in Ca was and is JOHN HARRIS, of HARRIS FARMS, in Central Ca, who had Tiznow and has 100,000 head of cattle and a large TBred operation with a good sized training track. Although Harris was the one demanding fake dirt, His track at his ranch remains real dirt!
IMO tracks in Ca have been tweaking them ever since they were installed at the whims of mostly horsemen depending on what style of horse and training they do. Gamblers have been complaining ever since they have gone in at all tracks in NA, even when numbers of deaths were lowered significantly and field size was increasing. Some on this forum still claim the field size is too low bit the number 8.56 is in this article. Del Mar and the other track in Ca have been tweaking or changing several times to try to satisfy everyone, just as they were years ago artificially speeding up the tracks to please certain people. Neeither idea worked in the long run.
But I simply do not understand based on the commennts in the article linked in the thread-starter post for this thread how anyone can say that Harper is just acting like a big shot and ignoring everybody. And as far as pleasing the gamblers, in another report on DM today, live attendance, handle, and AWD handle is up. So which gamlers are unhappy about things at DM? The whales? The Racing Form gamblers who are the steadiest and read all the PP's? The DM seasonal bettors? We do not know becuase no polls are taken nor as far as I know ADW demographics taken.
Many members are reasonable with the things they do not like about Ca racing, but as I say some just hate everything about Ca including racing. politis, liberal mindset, and even the Pacific Ocean when the tides messed up their front-running horses at DM! I do not expect the Ca raing complainers to change unless maybe the state ran their races at 10 AM so they would not miss any of the late running meet days here and might satisfy East Coasters!
"Founded by John C. Harris in 1937, the Harris Ranch Beef Company (now operated by Jack Harris' son John) also operates an inn and restaurant, and breeds thoroughbred horses.[1] Overall, the operation has more than 400 employees.[2]
At over 800 acres (320 ha) and with a population of over 100,000 cattle,[3] and thousands harvested daily, the ranch is the largest on the West Coast. It is also among the largest (when including density), in the United States. Known to travelers for a "ripe, tangy odor",[4] the ranch is nicknamed "Cowschwitz".[3][5] It supplies the hamburger meat for the In-N-Out chain, and also distributes through grocery stores nationwide.[2]Approximately 14,000 acres (5,700 ha) are devoted to garlic, broccoli, pomegranates, and tomatoes, among 35 types of fruits and vegetables.[3"
