It’s a big week in the world of synthetic surfaces. On Wednesday, a group of owners, trainers, jockeys, and executives gathered in California to discuss the topic, with, predictably, a variety of opinions being expressed. Some trainers love it; some trainers hate it. Some trainers are sure injuries are down; some trainers see more injuries. Winner of the Smartest Comment Award goes to Dr. Greg Ferraro of the University of California-Davis, who called for a five-year study on synthetic racetracks “to gain information on how the tracks change over the short and long term” (DRF).

Unsurprisingly, Michael Dickinson touted the success of his Tapeta track at Golden Gate fields, noting that fatalities went down significantly after the maintenance of that track was altered in early January (DRF).

Paul Harper was, in the words of California Horse Racing Board chairman Richard Shapiro, “a last-minute scratch” (The Blood-Horse), and I think that that’s actually a good thing; the clear conflict of interest in the presence of synthetic track manufacturers at these meetings can undermine their credibility. Are they information-gathering sessions, or are they sales pitches?

As Railbird noted earlier this week, on the agenda for NYRA is to investigate the installation of synthetic surfaces at its tracks; quoted in The Saratogian, Charles Hayward said, “Some of the top trainers, such as Shug McGaughey and Nick Zito, are divided on their desire to race on synthetic surfaces…We’ll take it one step at a time. Our first priority would be to look at training surfaces, because horses jog or train about 20 times for every time they race.”

There’s a respectable, welcome caution in his statement. As I’ve stated here over and over, I’m all for improvements that will help to reduce equine injury. But there’s just not enough information out there now to justify the expense of installing any more synthetic tracks in this country. According to The Blood-Horse’s issue on synthetics back in December, fatalities have risen at some of the tracks that have installed synthetic surfaces, and the debacle at Santa Anita should be enough to put the brakes on any more tracks moving forward until we know much, much more than we do about the effects of these surfaces on both humans and horses, about the effects of weather on the surfaces, and about how to maintain them. It’s a disgrace that in the months before the Breeders’ Cup, arguably racing’s biggest day, the track at which the event will take place for the next two year will be ripping up its surface and starting from scratch. At least I’ll have a good excuse for my bad handicapping two years in a row.

Brave man that he is, CHRB chairman will be the guest on The Blood-Horse’s Talkin’ Horses on Friday at noon. You can submit questions here.

And given the following…

–Bob Baffert’s comments about California last summer–“’It was nice to come back [to Saratoga]…You guys have some serious fans here. Your horses are appreciated here. At Del Mar everybody’s just getting drunk and going to the beach’” (NY Daily News)
–Baffert’s losing a major client when Ahmed Zayat brought his horses east to get them away from the California track surfaces
–Baffert’s comment at the California forum: ““I think we’re in a crisis right now…I think these vendors who put these tracks in sold us a bill of goods that didn’t do what they’re supposed to. I think these surfaces disrespect the ability of a horse and they disrespect the contest of horse racing, where the best horse is supposed to win’” (The Blood-Horse).

…do we want to start the over/under on when he abandons the West Coast for good?