Pro-Ride May Be Dark Horse at Breeders' Cup
BC Qualifiers Will Face Extra Synthetic Challenge
Oct 7, 2008
Getting a winner at the Breeders' Cup World Championships this year may be a matter of which Thoroughbred best adapts to Santa Anita Park's new Pro-Ride artificial surface. Tentative lists of participants thus far shows probable starters with a variety of experience on dirt and synthetic surfaces.
Not all synthetic surfaces are alike. Some racers have experienced surfaces that have different ingredients than Pro-Ride, others are lacking in any experience on synthetics. Not all trainers agree on the general trend to install synthetics.
The Breeders' Cup World Championships are scheduled for October 24 and 25 at Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California.
Pro-Ride Surface New This Year
Pro-Ride becomes one large factor in this year's running of the race that may determine the Horse of the Year. Pro-Ride is a new art form in synthetic racing. With its exposure during this year's running of the world Thoroughbred competitions, it will tap into a leading role in the drive to put artificial surfaces on every major track in the country. Pro-Ride, an Australian brain-child developed by Ian Pearse, has a polymetric binder that stopped the water drainage problem at Santa Anita Park.
Santa Anita's previous surface, Cushion Track, a combination of fibers, sand, and wax based with asphalt, was unable to withstand heavy rainfalls that clogged its drainage capability. The Polytrack surface at Keeneland Race Course contains crushed rubber, along with the other three ingredients used by Cushion Track. Tapeta, developed by Michael Dickinson, is a sand, wax, and fiber mixture installed at Golden Gate Fields in San Francisco.
Horses Switching From Dirt to Synthetics
Recent research done by veterinarian Dr. Sheila Lyons, who is based in Florida and Kentucky, has shown that horses may experience muscle and tissue soreness, muscle hypertension, just hours after running on synthetics for the first time.
Horses entered in the BC Classic will have workouts on the new surface prior to the 25th renewal of the race on October 25. Will muscle trauma be a problem for those who haven't raced on synthetics?
Trainers Differ About Artificial Surfaces
Leading trainers Bob Baffert, who will enter top contender Indian Blessing in the Filly and Mare Sprint October 24, and Nick Zito, who has two qualifiers for the BC Classic in seven-year-old gelding Commentator and three-year-old Anak Nakal, are not artificial-happy horsemen.
Baffert believes "that stuff" causes subtle injury like the complications that Dr. Lyons has explored. Zito said recently in a (The Blood-Horse magazine) post-race interview, "I'm not crazy about running on rubber, something that comes out of your attic, or anything artificial".
Big Brown trainer Richard Dutrow, Jr. remains adamant that great horses can run on any surface. He successfully switched Big Brown to a turf contest at Monmouth after his charge had run on Florida snythetics and won two of the three Triple Crown races on dirt.
Pearse says Pro-Ride is the answer to all-weather racing because his material withstands heat and rain. Heat will not melt the polymetric binder, which gives it an advantage over synthetic surfaces that include wax that can melt down in extreme temperatures. It also drains well under heavy rain conditions.
What will the horses say on their Breeders' Cup day?
