At least they send that crew walking around the course 50 times to pick up all the chicken bones.

Isn't there, or wasn't there, a signal dispute that played a big role in the lower handle?

They forgot to use that

Great point.

Excellent point. You would think the track suits would march that excuse front and center instead of assessing fault for the lower handle to the national economy and the weather. Then again, they have no control over the economy and the weather.

It's tricky but I'm not surprised they didn't bring it up.

St. Augustine looks hearty, but it is not. My 50lb kids ruin my yard with their foot traffic. I can only imagine how many races a St. Augustine turf course would last under half ton horses.

I was half joking about the St. Augustine as it is a common grass in New Orleans. But it gets too clumpy to be raced upon.

But the stuff can be very durable, depending on which variety is used. I resod parts of my yard with the Sapphire variety and once it spread, it held up to human and canine traffic. It held up much better than other varieties, in particular Del Mar. The downside is it gets so thick that it gets a big buildup of thatch when it starts going dormant in the winter.

I can't remember Fair Grounds having as many problems with its turf course 20 years ago. The problems predate Katrina, so that can't be blamed. Who knows what the root of the problem is, but the course looks like a beach for too much of the meet.

I think Turf Paradise has one of the best turf courses in the country right now too.

Beulah's ain't too shabby either.

Gulfstream's turf course if really quite nice, which is quite a change from the prior version, which was awful.

My favorite turf courses are Kentucky Downs and Canterbury Downs--the latter always looked like a pasture, with LONG grass (haven't seen it in years, however)

Tampa's course is great and so's Sam Houston's though they hardly use it.

NT

Colonial's is the absolute best.

River downs??