I think it\'s safe to say that you won\'t see any of the good dirt horses ship to California next year unless they\'re proven over the synthetic surface. It\'s going to turn into California vs. European runners. If I were NYRA I would start getting ready now and give trainers/owners an alternative the weekend before or after the cup...And when it comes to the classic...with the defection of Big Brown..could you imagine if Curlin didn\'t show up to the Classic this year..how unimpressive the field would have been?? Nobody could argue that any of the horses in that race were the best in the world...which is what the classic should be.
And were is the NYRA supposed to find the purse money?
No one is more critical of synths than me.The intention (protect the horses) was good,the solution was poor. Racing has too much trouble for NYRA to try to compete with the BC. I think that\'s a bad idea for racing overall.
Considering the economic woes,the players still bet big money over the two days which only proves that the attraction of big racing days is not dead, synth or not.The pure dirt runners may stay away next year but the Euros are salivating and will be pointing more to next years BC.
The clueless empty suits have once again made a poor decision re surfaces but that is to be expected.Considering all the money they spent, I\'m sure they could have commissioned someone to tweak the dirt surfaces to make them safer for the horses.I read somewhere that NYRA tracks have a pretty good breakdown rate vs synths.I guess dirt could have been made more safe without robbing horses of their brilliance. That appears to be somewhat the case with synths.
Mike