Arlington to install a synthetic surface
 

Looks like the surface will be installed in time for their 2007 meet beginning May 4th 2007. The type of synthetic surface has not been chosen.

Here is the link to the story in bloodhorse:
http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=36657

:(

Looks like the nuts go bye bye....

So the last 15 years of bias' that I had put together, adios

To reminisce, I loved betting closers in the slop there, one of my favorite angles

:mad: :mad:

I actually just thought of a positive, if there is one. From what I can gather, it will be the only fake dirt track going in the summer because Hollywood in the West, so trainers/owners that are huge fans of this, will obviously want to race at Arlington, so fields could be better and bigger....

I also loved betting closers in the slop at Arlington. I think the meet will be a success this summer. It will be real interesting to see their meet compared to Churchills.

Closers in the slop have always done well at AP. Come to think of it, closers and stalkers 3-4 wide did pretty good when it was dry as well. Not much adjustment for the bettors, as Arlington was one of the few non-speed biased racetracks.

well it used to be when it was hot/dry here for a couple days that the track was cooked solid and speed did real well, no idea how it works at synthetic though

i think that for a track like arlington that by and large does not have many biases except for the few mentioned here -- the surface shouldn't make much of a change in the racing. I Do agree though that it is going to bring some extra horses up this summer, which is great for everyone!

Arlington's main track has had a dead rail for virtually the entire 2004 and 2005 meets and the first 6 weeks of 2006. Toward the end of the meet, the rail started getting bad again. The dead rail only went away when they were examining the surface trying to figure out what was causing breakdowns.

I think the high clay content had a lot to do with why closers did so well when it was sloppy/muddy.

kiss that angle goodbye...no more slop/mud with the all weather track.

Oh I doubt I am wrong about this.
I bet that by 2008 we will see ER episdoes on NBC where Chicago residents are being treated for polytrak inhalation suffered at Arlington Racetrack.


this is a terrible development.
at some point,
Im going to be reduced to playing just tracks that are too poor to afford a "$10 Million" investment.

cant believe AP is spending that kind of change on a freaking toxic form of fake dirt.


horses die.
its part of racing and always has been.
you dont spend $10M to stop breakdowns.
just stupid.


Repent

repent have you ever seen a horse breakdown in front of your eyes? Or have you ever seen a horse breakdown and another horse breakdown because they hit that horse? 10 million to prevent any kind of breakdowns is worth every penny....just because you are pathetic and you do not support the safety of horses doesn't mean you can bash poly or any other surface that is kinder to horses safety. Yea you are a true fan of the sport, you are pathetic.

Nafzger has had stalls at Arlington for as long as I can remember. I recent years, most of his operation his been out of KY but for many years, his whole barn was based out of AP. Unbridled ran the first few races of his career at Arlington; I don't know if Street Sense started his career at AP but he did run there at least once. Since Nafzger has won the Derby, the BC Classic and Juvenile, he has national credibility. At least that's why I think they had him there.

Carl does not have a vested interest in any company that manufactures a synthetic track. Carl was a trainer that was on the fence when synthetic surfaces were being discussed. He now realizes the benefits of a synthetic surface and wants his horses to be part of it.

Repent - you are such an enviromentalist.

We can only hope polytrack ends up being as revolutionary as stru-flex. The stall product Nafzger was behind 100 percent.

Stru-Flex is pretty neat stuff. My trainer doesnt use it, however I have heard many people say good things about it. I have actually laid down in some stru-flex and it isnt that bad at all. Plus it is much cheaper.

Ive never heard anyone say anything good about Stru-flex

The difference between you and a horse Euro is the horse weighs 1200lbs. When they walk on the struflex all day it turns into almost dust. It gets in their nose, eyes, its brutal.

If i keep eating the way I am....I am going to weigh 1200lbs.

haha, lay off those pizzas late at night

according to this thinking maybe we should also not invest in new drugs or other medical reasearch. after all, people die, always have, always will.

so your objection to the stuff is based on the potential health risk to humans?
i'm sorry but if i were to make a list of toxic substances that come in contact with humans and are hazardous to human health, dust from race tracks would not even make the top one thousand.

tracks like Arlington are spending the money on the surface change because it makes good economic sense and its less stressful to the horses.

Don't know but i'm guessing its a safe bet that alcohol consumption is much more dangerous to humans than artificial racing surfaces are.

When have you ever drank in 'proper amounts'?

in the "proper amounts" polytrack may be beneficial, like say adding fiber to your diet.:)

the more i think about it, the more i realize that Arlington can't lose on this one.

after last summer, this is an incredible PR move, whether that was the intention or not. After seeing the Chicago newspapers circling around the track like vultures waiting for the next breakdown...this is bound to generate TONS of positive press to try to temper the disgust that many non-fans in the area felt last summer watching it happen.

I worked at AP last year. Going to work and knowing I was possibly going to see multiple horses breakdown was not something I looked forward too. There was a time in the middle of the meet when I would almost look away when they would come around the final turn. I don't see how AP could go wrong by switching to poly. I was asked by hundreds of people during work what the deal was with all of the horses breaking down, hopefully this will change.

I agree with you brian, i think they have turned a negative into a potential big positive. Arlington will now be viewed as a progressive as opposed to last year when the image was tarnished due to the breakdown issue.
they've now addressed the breakdown issue in a big way.
they've made it where arlington can rightfully claim to be one of the premeir
racing facilities in the country with its beautiful plant, superb turf course, and soon to be state of the art synthetic dirt track.

i think this will only make the place more popular with europeans reinforcing the international theme to the place. i also predict that with this change we'll
now see new faces amongst the trainer population. for example i would think that you'd be more likely to see some horses come up for the summer from someone like Biancone or other other high profile barns.

you cant make me feel bad about a reality of horse racing that has been around as long as the sport itself.

its not that I dont support the safety of horses, its just that I dont care either way.
Im not anti-horse safety, but Im not going to support something when horse safety is the only possible benefit and there are many negatives.


Repent

You truly are more of a jackass then I ever thought. Are your sneakers toxic? No.

What do you do for a job? I doubt it's much more rewarding than pumping gas.

my employment?
unlike many of you,
i have a real job where I have to be from 9-5 everyday which is why I am not here to bs all day(no offense to anyone who is fortunate to hang out here during the day, I just can not).

whatever,
dont know what that has to do with my feeling on polytrack.
its dangerous and not all that practical of a racing surface.
what else do you need to know?



Repent

I ask because I question your authority to call something "toxic" without the knowledge of the actual chemical makeup of the substance's constituents. If you're a chemist or toxologist, I retract my statement. Otherwise, perhaps you should refrain from making bold statements you cannot back up with fact.