On Tuesday Santa Anita announced that it will completely overhaul its track surface, replacing its current Cushion track with Pro-Ride, the first track in this country, I believe, to use the Pro-Ride surface. The Paulick Report links to the Santa Anita press release and reports its own research (in slightly less detail than I’d like–you know what a stickler I am for sources), which indicates that horsemen at Santa Anita support sticking with synthetics, and that fatalities at California tracks have dropped since the installation of synthetic surfaces.

Good news indeed, and the sort of detailed information that we have too often lacked in the discussion about synthetic surfaces. I have two questions: do the figures take into account racing injuries only, or are training injuries also included? And what, if any, research has been done into the respiratory effects of synthetics?

I would also continue to exercise caution going forward, as fatal injuries dropped at Turfway and Keeneland during the first racing seasons on Polytrack, then increased the following years. We need data taken consistently over multiple years in order to determine whether synthetics are, in the long term, the best choice for horses. It is also worth noting that some industry folk believe that completely replacing the base of a track, as Santa Anita will do in this renovation, contributes significantly to its safety–see The Blood-Horse’s special issue for more detail on these and other issues related to synthetic surfaces.

Focusing on racing, how will this change affect the prep for the Breeders’ Cup? Will trainers flock to Santa Anita after the new surface débuts on September 24th, eager for their horses to get a race in on Pro-Ride? The Breeders’ Cup is exactly a month later, on October 24th, leaving little opportunity for well-spaced prep races, so it seems likely that the World Championships will be contested on a surface over which few of the horses will ever have run. Have at that, handicappers. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing that a few of us have pledged a little betting boycott of the first day of the Breeders’ Cup…

Alan at Left at the Gate also writes on this topic today.