This was discussed in some detail before the Derby, there were examples of some horses really improving first on dirt, many others running back to previous figures.
??One person not on this board, stated that horses that tend to freak first syn to dirt are speed horses, NOT closers?? Anyone have an info if this is true? Thanks.
Mcnamarj,
I don\'t think you can make that general statement. Way too broad.
But, there are some quasi-facts. The polytrack and pro-ride surfaces seem to neutralize the effectiveness of horses with blazing speed. Horses like Indian Blessing and Fabulous Strike that have blistering early speed, moved to Pro-Ride and suddenly couldn\'t run as well. Ventura would not catch Indian Blessing on a dirt race at 7 furlongs if given the chance to do it 20 times. Conversely, there are also some solid examples of horses that showed speed on those synthetic surfaces but were not able to hold on in the stretch, switch to dirt and be able to run better numbers.
On an even broader level, there is some concern around breeders that our entire breeding focus of the last 15 years becomes a problem if synthetic surfaces continue to gain a foothold across the country (breeding speed to speed and less stamina influences). Those precocious speed horses that we love to breed will be hard pressed to perform well on polytrack and pro-ride type surfaces.
I am picking \"high profile\" examples, but another would be that those two European horses last year, Raven\'s Pass and Henry the Navigator, would lose by 10 lenghts IMO, to Curlin on dirt, but yet accelerated by him at will over the pro-ride.