Just a follow-up to a conversation I had (at too great length) with Michael D a while back-- I would like to point something out not on the question of whether horses are getting faster, but that of whether tracks are changing. In this case, my comment is not about cushion depth, but soil content.
Take a look at the times yesterday at Santa Anita, and those of about a month ago, the last time the track was wet. They are blazingly fast-- for example, a 3yo starter allowance filly (with a previous top of 11 1/2) went 1:08:18 en route to a 1:22 4/5ths final time. Now, this filly and all the others who ran fast are neither Ghostzapper nor Dr. Fager. What happened is that the track got a lot faster when it got wet.
It used to be that the tracks out west were very fast when dry, and got very slow when wet (Turf Paradise a decade or so ago being a very extreme example). Now they often get faster when wet, and without even asking I\'m pretty sure I know why, even if those taking care of the tracks haven\'t been there long enough to know, or aren\'t willing to talk about it-- it\'s what Porcelli told me happened at the NYRA tracks years ago. They changed the soil content-- tracks with a lot of clay in them (think baseball infield) are fast when dry, but get very slow when wet (think muddy field), and take a long time to dry. Tracks with a lot of sand are slower when dry (think beach), and get faster when wet(think beach nearer the water).
Again, this is not to reopen the \"Are they getting faster\" debate-- this is strictly a comment about track speed, not horse\'s speed.
Are there still any major tracks that you know of that get deeper and more tiring (and slower) when they get wet?
your point about surfaces changing speed when they get wet is well taken. i have always believed that the belmont surface is on the deeper side (compared to other major tracks), and it changes dramatically when it gets wet/fast. if i saw another track change in the same fashion when it gets soaked, i would certainly take notice (i will keep an eye on SA, thanks for the info). jerry, you do have to admit though that the CD surface at times takes on the opposite characteristics. looks at smarty\'s derby time over the wet surface, 2:05 and change? is the CD surface quicker than it used to be?
CH-- That question is complicated somewhat by temperature at this time of year, and how dry (or wet) the track is to begin with. Off the top of my head Turfway comes to mind, but I would really have to do some homework to answer you properly.
Michael-- there is wet, and there is wet. CD got biblical rain before the SJ race. But if you remind me during the upcoming CD meet I can track this pretty easily.
ok, i\'m having enough trouble with the new GP surfaces, i will keep my attention there. i\'m starting to figure out the dirt track, but the turf course is just too hard. if they don\'t get some rain this week, they need to get the hoses out in a big way. btw, nice GP analysis yesterday.