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Like it or not the age of synthetic tracks
is not going away so stop whining, just
isolate and adapt and get on board for
the roller coaster. A few days certainly
does not make a meeting or a survey but
early reports from Del Mar do offer glimpses
of style.
One of the major things handicappers will
have to adjust to immediately is the difference
in times from the Cushion Track to the
Polytrack.
Some say time is only important if you
are waiting for a bus or are looking at
a prison sentence, but in reality, interior
splits is what makes this game go around.
Consider the final clocking of the July
11 6th race on the Hollypark Cushion. Juvenile
fillies going 5 and a half furlongs were
timed in 1: 03.67 as a Jeff Mullins miss
captured the race under Clinton Potts.
Juvenile males opening day on the Polytrack
of Del Mar also went 5 and a half furlongs
but it was an eternity before they reached
the finish line.
The well-regarded Kanan Dume, who is visually
a specimen as a virtual giant, tracked
in 2nd right off the leader to post a final
time of 1:06.85, a full three seconds slower
than the fillies.
Now take a look at the bottom rung, the
$25,000 maiden claimers. On July 6 at Hollypark,
that caliber maiden went 6 and a half furlongs
in a winning time of 1:18.49, as Tejano
Forever succeeded with splits of :22.17,
:45.88, 1:11.81.
On opening day at the beach in a $25K
maiden seller, Run Forest Run went virtually
wire-to-wire taking the 5th race at the
same 6 and a half distance. The splits
were :22.71, :46.51, 1:12.86 with a finale
time of 1:20.06, close to a full 2 seconds
slower than the Inglewood race.
Consider what Richard Migliore told Jay
Privman of the Daily Racing Form after
a mount of his ran dead last opening day.
Migliore: “It’s a very tiring
surface. They’re gripping it, but
it’s a lot different from anything
they’ve ever been on. It’s
going to take some time for some of them
to get used to it. You’re going to
want a horse that makes one run. You don’t
want a horse that’s going to be fighting
you.”
It’s pretty obvious by now to all
that this will be a learning experience
for everyone involved, horses, trainers,
owners, jockeys and horse bettors.
Horses, as creatures of habit, instinctively
know that something is new and like humans,
they sometimes do not respond well to change
or to new surroundings.
Trainers have to adjust their styles.
Some guys that let their horses sizzle
with fast workouts, may have to eventually
change that style and get more ‘bottom’,
in other words fitness, into their horses.
Riders will have to learn on the fly how
to get the best from their mounts. Getting
into a speed duel does not look like the
thing to do on this surface early on.
And bettors will have to be patient. Players
cannot just bank on a horse making the
lead and wiring a field. Before the day
is done things like post position, where
a horse projects to be during the running
of the race, and late foot will be factors
that could be the tell all before it’s
all done.
So strap on the work boots, get ready
to punch the clock and burn the midnight
oil, and let’s together figure out
this enigma known as the Polytrack before
the other half of the world does.
Stay tuned.
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Posted on 7/25/2007 6:27:51 PM
Horse Race Betting - Cushion Track to Polytrack
By Brian Mulligan
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