Catching up on my reading

[BitPlayer]

Articles of interest that some may have missed in the Derby hubbub:

TVG is on the block.  I have to believe the buyer will come from within the industry.  Maybe TrackNet/HRTV?  Maybe a horsemans\' group?

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/45050.htm


Growing use of glue-on shoes:

http://www.drf.com/news/article/94167.html

\"I think they run faster in them,\" Steve Asmussen, the trainer of Pyro, said immediately when asked about glue-ons. \"Maybe almost half my horses wear them.\"
. . .
One pair of glue-ons can cost anywhere from $400 to $550, which would make it cost-prohibitive for lower-end claiming horses to be shod with them.  However, Asmussen said he uses the shoes on some of his $5,000 claimers.  \"They can be expensive,\" he said, \"but it can also be expensive to lose. They could make the difference between 60 percent of the purse and 20. I honestly think they really move horses up.


Synthetic tracks producing closer finishes

I find a couple of things interesting about this article.  First, it supports the theory that Polytrack (and perhaps other synthetic surfaces) tends to produce compressed figures.  Second, the Polytrack rep views the changes in racing wrought by his surface as a positive, whereas most posters on this board would prefer a surface that produces results similar to dirt.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2008/April/28/Synthetic-tracks-producing-closer-finishes.aspx

Jim Pendergest, of Martin Collins Surfaces—which along with Keeneland Race Course markets Polytrack—presented statistics that show tracks with the surface have seen closer finishes.

"We think it's important to have horses finish closer together," Pendergest said. "Close finishes give the bettor the feeling that they weren't too far off. When a bettor plays a horse that gets beat by 12 lengths, they get frustrated."


Del Mar decides to water Polytrack this summer

http://www.drf.com/news/article/93979.html

And you couldn\'t have tried this on Tuesday afternoons last summer because . . .?  In fairness, they have also changed the wax slightly.

[miff]

Synthetic tracks producing closer finishes

I find a couple of things interesting about this article. First, it supports the theory that Polytrack (and perhaps other synthetic surfaces) tends to produce compressed figures. Second, the Polytrack rep views the changes in racing wrought by his surface as a positive, whereas most posters on this board would prefer a surface that produces results similar to dirt.

[www.thoroughbredtimes.com]

Bit,

... Cluelss Polytrack rep does not realize that the surface is making fast horses slower and slower horses finishing closer than they would on a \"fair\" surface.That surface rewards the slow and punishes the fast, BRILLIANT!!


Mike