[Danzig]

i still think only a couple tracks should have installed this stuff, rather than a blanket change such as in cali. you have different surfaces, different brands, different methods of maintenance, and of course different weather.
there are so many things to look at overall to decide if this is a good change, a bad change. the total # of catastrophic breakdowns during a race may have decreased. but then you read about training injuries, and increase in soft tissue injuries which can force the euthanization of a horse--it's not just a bone injury that can bring that about. i've read that there are more hind end injuries in horses that run on the poly. woodbine banned toe grabs, then allowed them after the problems they had last winter, and trainers screaming for them.
as for handle, the use of poly means no more MTO in the turf races, no more scratches due to weather. how much of an increase in handle is there-and is there a correlation between the larger handle and full turf fields regardless of weather. also, are there more ways of betting those tracks with an increase than in past years? what about dime supers?

as for horse racing becoming a major sport again--i don't see it happening. it's a niche sport, and will toil along with soccer and ice hockey.