Oak Tree back at Santa - Pro Ride remains in place for now

[gm10]

Interestingly, Stronach mentions that they may replace the Pro Ride with another synthetic surface. I personally hope that they keep the Pro-Ride, it's fair, consistent, safe and seems to make the horses competitive when they ship out to dirt tracks. I reckon even the horsemen might see it that way if the alternative is yet another synthetic surface .

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...010?source=rss

[The_Knight_Sky]

Originally Posted by gm10

I personally hope that they keep the Pro-Ride, it's fair, consistent,
safe and seems to make the horses competitive when they ship out to dirt tracks.

But it doesn't play like a traditional dirt track.

Horsemen need to change their training methods.
Riders need to ride differently.
Breeders need to breed a different kind of horse.

Is that traditional main track racing ?

[Tom]

It is worthless when it rains.

[Fingal]

Doesn't matter what they have, it's the drainage system. Considering both Hollywood Park & Santa Anita had Cushion Track, & Hollywood had no problems with rain while SA turned into a swamp, it might have been the drainage. When SA went to Pro-ride & they still had swamps when it rained, by process of elimination it wasn't the material, it was the drainage. The question should always be- what was done differently with the installation at Santa Anita & why ?

Pro-ride is fine. I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled out the Pro Ride, replaced the drainage system & put it back in again.

[xfile]

Anyone have the actual statistics showing breakdowns b4 and after installation of synthetics? I mean if it is actually saving a lot of horses then we should probably not wish for traditional dirt to return.

[gm10]

Originally Posted by The_Knight_Sky

But it doesn't play like a traditional dirt track.

Horsemen need to change their training methods.
Riders need to ride differently.
Breeders need to breed a different kind of horse.

Is that traditional main track racing ?

People say that but yet the best synthetic horses appear to be doing well enough on the dirt. It's not like the synthetic-to-dirt winners hadn't been winning on the synthetic (Zenyatta, Lookin At Lucky and Blind Luck being the prime examples this year).

[BluegrassProf]

Originally Posted by gm10

I personally hope that they keep the Pro-Ride, it's fair, consistent, safe and seems to make the horses competitive when they ship out to dirt tracks. I reckon even the horsemen might see it that way if the alternative is yet another synthetic surface

Woot! Just about as consistent as you!

Perhaps you could stand up there next to Frank when he tries to throw yet another half-tested faux surface at his horsemen's feet - he's gonna need a cheerleader or two...

[FenceBored]

Originally Posted by gm10

People say that but yet the best synthetic horses appear to be doing well enough on the dirt. It's not like the synthetic-to-dirt winners hadn't been winning on the synthetic (Zenyatta, Lookin At Lucky and Blind Luck being the prime examples this year).

You're our own Mars Blackmon.

[YT="It's got to be the Synth"]BhHONpmlxPc[/YT]

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by gm10

I personally hope that they keep the Pro-Ride, it's fair, consistent, safe and seems to make the horses competitive when they ship out to dirt tracks.

In terms of top level racing, it's a perfect surface because it keeps out-of-state horses from shipping into your track and gives your local horses a reason to ship out.

[gm10]

Originally Posted by BluegrassProf

Woot! Just about as consistent as you!

Perhaps you could stand up there next to Frank when he tries to throw yet another half-tested faux surface at his horsemen's feet - he's gonna need a cheerleader or two...

Yep we agree, and he knows the same all too well imo.

[gm10]

Originally Posted by Spalding No!

In terms of top level racing, it's a perfect surface because it keeps out-of-state horses from shipping into your track and gives your local horses a reason to ship out.

Ship out ... and win. That is indeed one of the perks of it at the moment. I would love to race top juveniles in California at the moment. Nobody from out of state takes you on, and when you go and meet them instead, you win anyway. Perfect.

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by gm10

Ship out ... and win. That is indeed one of the perks of it at the moment. I would love to race top juveniles in California at the moment. Nobody from out of state takes you on, and when you go and meet them instead, you win anyway. Perfect.

Yeah, but winning at Oaklawn and Lone Star won't get you any Eclipse Awards.

[Robert Goren]

We don't know if the synthetics are safer or not. The statistics are flawed. What we do know is that most betters prefer dirt. That is reason enough to go back to dirt.

[gm10]

Originally Posted by Robert Goren

We don't know if the synthetics are safer or not. The statistics are flawed. What we do know is that most betters prefer dirt. That is reason enough to go back to dirt.

Sorry but I strongly disagree with just giving people what they want. The world does not progress by just giving people what they want. There was a case for going synthetic (safety and increasing field sizes), and that case should be (objectively) reviewed before just giving people what they prefer. Now, you need responsible people in charge for that to work, and whether they have those in SoCal or not, that I can't answer.

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by gm10

Sorry but I strongly disagree with just giving people what they want. The world does not progress by just giving people what they want. There was a case for going synthetic (safety and increasing field sizes), and that case should be (objectively) reviewed before just giving people what they prefer. Now, you need responsible people in charge for that to work, and whether they have those in SoCal or not, that I can't answer.

Shouldn't they have reviewed them before they installed them?