All eyes on Santa Anita as course switches to dirt track
Santa Anita had been operating its race track by making use of a synthetic surface, but when it will open its doors after Christmas at the Arcadia track, it will have been converted to a dirt track.
Santa Anita is an exception to the mandate that was issued by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), requiring all major tracks in the state to have a synthetic surface. The owner of Santa Anita, MI Developments, had requested the CHRB to grant the track
a waiver in this regard because the rains had caused problems by damaging the track. The track could not be drained properly, which made the track unsafe for the races. MI Developments claimed that it was difficult to ensure the consistency of the synthetic
surface, given the weather conditions and the troublesome economic conditions as well.
The situation had caused the cancellation of several races, which were supposed to be held at Santa Anita, and also contributed in exacerbating the sentiments of horsemen, breeders, trainers and track officials alike. Other than that Santa Anita also experienced
low attendances at its major races such as the Big ’Cap and the Santa Anita Derby.
MI Developments Chairman Frank Stronach then assured the CHRB that it would make sure that the dirt track is designed and constructed in such a way, that the safety of the horses as well as the jockeys is not compromised in any way.
Chairman of the CHRB, Keith Brackpool had the following comments to make when asked about the waiver that has been granted to Santa Anita. “We said to the people at Santa Anita when they came to us that if they could demonstrate a significant investment
in time and money in the design and construction of the track in the promotion of safety, then we would very much look at it. I think they did just that, and we right now probably have a state-of-the-art dirt track in which safety is the number-one issue.”
However, according to some studies that have researched the safety of racing on dirt tracks and synthetic ones, have concluded that synthetic tracks have proved to be much safer.
A study made by some epidemiologists over a period of two years showed that the horses that ran on synthetic tracks had near death breakdowns at a rate of 1.51 per 1000 starts, as compared to the 2.14 breakdowns per 1000 starts that were suffered by horses
that ran on dirt tracks.
According to another study the legs of the horses face less amount of pressure and force when they run over synthetic tracks as compared to the dirt tracks, which causes more friction. However others claim that the horses tend to undergo an increased amount
of soft-tissue injuries when running on synthetic surfaces.
If all goes well at Santa Anita and if the weather holds up, the race track is all set to put up an amazing display for its spectators. The air is already buzzing with excitement at the prospect of horse racing on a dirt track. The four-month meeting at
Santa Anita will also host the $1 million Santa Anita Derby, along with 53 races with six-figure purses.
The changes at Santa Anita has attracted the attention of trainer Steve Asmussen, the person responsible for training the three horses that won the title of Horse of the Year for the last three years. Amussen, who has brought 30 horses to Santa Anita, said,
“We want to do a better job on the top-end of racing. We felt that over the winter this would give our young horses their best opportunity to grow and develop and be all they can be.”
Only time will tell how the dirt track will fare. Until 26 December, everyone will have to keep their fingers crossed.
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