Oaklawn, Churchill resisting synthetic bandwagon
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/225407/
The death of Eight Belles in this year’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., has intensified the debate over the future of dirt racing surfaces.
But not at Churchill or Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.
Neither track plans to install a synthetic surface, which advocates believe lessens the risk of horses being seriously injured.
“We think we have one of the safest dirt racing surfaces in America,” said David Longinotti, Oaklawn’s assistant general manager / racing. “But I know it’s a big hot spot right now.”
Eight Belles, the only filly in the 20-horse field, was euthanized after fracturing both front ankles following her second-place finish behind Big Brown.
The last race-related fatal breakdown in a Triple Crown event was Prairie Bayou in the 1993 Belmont Stakes.
John Asher, Churchill’s vice president of racing communications, said Churchill continues to monitor the evolution of synthetic tracks, but remains committed to a surface he calls the “safest and fairest dirt track in the country — if not the world.”
“We’re big fans of our racetrack,” Asher said. “If it’s proven on down the road that synthetic tracks are safer for horses and humans, I’d think we’d look strongly in that direction.”
Eight Belles is believed to be the first horse to be fatally injured in conjunction with the Kentucky Derby in its 134-year history.
But her trainer, Larry Jones, said he believes Churchill’s surface was not a factor.
“There’s a lot of times I wonder walking over if my horse will handle the track or not,” Jones said. “I walked over this time and I said, ‘This might be the first Derby in history where at least 18 of these horses are not going to use the racetrack as an excuse of why they didn’t win the race. I felt like it had the perfect moisture in it for the race. They had it in great shape.”
Churchill’s parent company, Churchill Downs Inc., also owns Arlington Park, a suburban Chicago track that spent approximately $ 10 million to install a synthetic surface called Polytrack after 22 horses were reportedly fatally injured during the 2006 meeting.
Churchill also was stung that year by the fatal breakdown of Pine Island in another high-profile race, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
“First things first,” Asher said. “Track safety is no more important today than it was two weeks ago. The safety of the horses and humans is always our top priority. Obviously, what happened in the Derby has renewed interest in track safety issues, synthetic tracks in particular.
“ We continue to study those, but we think it’s a years-long process, not a few months long.”
In the wake of Eight Belles ’ death, The Jockey Club, the industry’s official breed registry, announced last week the formation of a seven-member Thoroughbred Safety Committee, which will be charged with reviewing equine health, including breeding practices, medication, rules of racing and track surfaces, and recommending actions to be taken by the industry to improve the health and safety of horses.
Longinotti said he believes Oaklawn took aggressive safetyrelated steps last off-season by reconditioning a surface that was heavily criticized during the 2007 meeting.
The $ 100, 000 project was designed to recapture the bounce, or springing effect, in the top 3 inches of the cushion, which absorb the shock of a horse’s foot striking the ground.
Many horsemen complained the surface became too hard in 2007, leading to body soreness or more severe injuries.
Oaklawn General Manager Eric Jackson said the problem was caused by the three elements of the track — sand, silt and clay — essentially separating and becoming disproportionate.
Ideally, the composition of Oaklawn’s racing surface is 88 percent sand, 7 percent silt and 5 percent clay, Longinotti said.
“It was something that needed to be done,” said Tim Ritchey, trainer of Afleet Alex, the country’s 3-yearold champion male of 2005. “Once they realized it, they addressed the problem in a very professional way and took care of it.”
Ritchey calls Oaklawn, Saratoga in New York and Delaware Park (all have dirt surfaces ) his three favorite racetracks.
Longinotti said Oaklawn’s surface rejuvenation likely contributed to an apparent decrease in race-related catastrophic injuries at this year’s 53-day live meeting that ended April 12.
According to statistics released by the track, Oaklawn had only five race-related fatal breakdowns from 4, 615 starters, a ratio of 1. 08 per 1, 000 starts.
Longinotti said he didn’t have statistics from the 2007 meeting, but added he was confident the catastrophic injury rate declined this year.
Oaklawn’s ratio was far less than preliminary information released earlier this year by the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit.
In data compiled from injury and fatality reports from regulatory veterinarians at 42 racetracks, the fatality rate on dirt was 2. 02 per 1, 000 starts and 1. 47 on synthetic surfaces.
The project was launched last May.
“That’s a pretty small, almost inconclusive improvement in breakdowns,” said owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs. “I can assure you as a horseman, there are other elements in play that are not perhaps as tragic or as dramatic as a horse breaking a leg, but have a similar effect. The jury is still out as the problems artificial surfaces create, despite their best efforts. I think it will take some time for us to know.”
Among the concerns raised by synthetic opponents are a spate of soft-tissue injuries and the longterm repercussions of horses and jockeys ingesting materials because of kickback.
Synthetic surfaces include rubber material and wax coating.
In the past three years, nine tracks in North America have installed some type of synthetic racing surface, including Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar in California, Keeneland in Kentucky and Arlington.
Alex Lieblong was Oaklawn’s second-leading owner this year and competes extensively at Keeneland and Arlington.
Echoing comments of many trainers, Lieblong said he prefers his horses train on synthetic surfaces because there’s few weatherrelated interruptions, but race on traditional dirt.
“If you’ve got dirt, you’ve just to make sure it’s in good shape,” said Lieblong, a member of the Arkansas State Racing Commission. “Dirt wears out. But whatever they did at Oaklawn, they did fabulous.”