Terrible news!!! Let\'s hope he recovers!

mel1txr: Support the handicap Jock. fund

shanahan: it\'s very tough for everyone involved, but the hole should be there before you try and make one - thoughts?


http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/rene-douglas-arlington-park.html

HP: He was having some problems before this.  Sounds like a bad one...

jma11473: Terrible story...get well Rene.

Boscar Obarra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxeSH5cNXvE


You had 9 horses within 1.5 lengths of each  other in 5 paths at the top of the lane.

 I\'m not 100% sure Theriot is fully to blame here, but its a tough call.

Ill-bred: That situation is typical of the two-turn polytrack races here in Kentucky and Chicago. They gallop evenly and then there\'s a traffic jam at the top of the stretch. Whichever horse glides through the jam without breaking rhythm and runs evenly to the wire usually gets the win. It\'s very hard to win on poly if u get stopped, even if your horse has a pure turn of foot.

One more reason to get rid of the synthetic tracks.

miff: Ill,

I hate the stuff as much as anyone, but I think spills will randomly happen regardless of the surface.I do wonder,however, if a horse can be manuvered as easily on synths. My understanding is that horses plant/land differently on synths as they run over the top of it.

Just wonder if that\'s a factor either way, better or worse.


Mike

Ill-bred: Miff-

Absolutely agree that spills will happen no matter what the surface. Look at Arlington\'s fatalities - they were EXACTLY the same total if you look at the two last years of dirt vs. the first two of Polytrack.

My personal opinion is that the synthetics produce a sub-par racing product from a sporting and gambling perspective and they are safety neutral (reducing some types of injuries, increasing others). The slow paces and bunching of fields at the top of the far turn is just one of the symptoms. (I have seen a few heel clips at that point in the race at Turfway and Keeneland)

As you suggested, there is a difference in the way horses plant their feet into dirt vs. synth. We should ask a few jockeys if it changes how they can control their horses. I believe there is more slide on the synth, but not positive about that.