Horse Racing: Record rainfall haunts dirt return at Santa Anita
The big freeze in Ireland and Britain has claimed almost all the mega horse racing events that were scheduled for this month and the end of the last month. The snow that followed victimized the remaining schedule of the meetings
in the area. All the events were subjected to inspection and it was almost impossible to mention the prospects of any event even a day before they was supposed to take place. The fixtures that were scheduled for the Christmas weekend including the Christmas
Hurdle and the historic William Hill King George VI Chase are still subject to an inspection that will be conducted by the Kempton management on Sunday since the forecast for Monday is revealed to be above the freezing point.
On the other hand, the return of dirt at Santa Anita after a troubled all-weather track is being seen to fall for the record rainfall that Los Angeles has received this season. This situation has called for a controversy regarding
the return of the dirt event at Santa Anita.
It has been revealed that while the average rainfall that Santa Anita receives in the entire year is not more than 14 ½ inches, the region received a rainfall of 13 ½ inches in the last seven days. Meanwhile, the venue was getting
prepared for the 2010-11 winter spring meeting, which is scheduled to begin on Boxing Day. The first day of the four-month meeting has been reported to stage two Grade I events. The management of the Santa Anita track has scratched off any synthetic surfaces
and are heading towards the traditional dirt track that has been a favourite of the American racehorses and trainers, for decades.
The reason why there is controversy regarding the return of dirt track is that it has been proved that the chances of equine deaths on the synthetic tracks are much less than those on the dirt surface. Therefore, for the welfare
of the racehorses, the California Horse Racing Board has passed an order to all the major west-coast racing tracks that they should replace the traditional dirt with the all-weather strips of the track. These type of tracks are found at the racetracks of Del
Mar, Hollywood Park and Golden Gate Fields. The synthetic tracks are also present in some of the high profile horse racing venues of North America including Arlington, Keeneland and Woodbine.
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