Santa Anita Cancels Thursday Card; LATEST: Racing Suspended

[Alabama Stakes]

What do you do if you are an owner ? Trainer. ? What about the jocks and exercise riders ? It’s got to take a big toll on everyone mentally.

[TouchOfGrey]

An Open Letter about the Future of Thoroughbred Racing in California

[jms62]

Catastrophic day for the sport we love...

[casp0555]

Wow...I'm at a loss for words. This is a turning point for the sport for sure, I can only hope it will be in a positive direction. I have to hope that it will....

[moses]

Originally Posted by TouchOfGrey

An Open Letter about the Future of Thoroughbred Racing in California

Does this mean the other Stronach-owned parks will be doing the same? It seems insincere to do it only at the CA tracks. Will the Preakness ban lasix?

If a horse in the wild takes a bad step and breaks thier leg, will an animal activist make a sound?

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by helicopter11

If a horse in the wild takes a bad step and breaks thier leg, will an animal activist make a sound?

You think it is acceptable for a track to have 22 horses break down in a little over 2 months?

[Konk]

Originally Posted by helicopter11

If a horse in the wild takes a bad step and breaks thier leg, will an animal activist make a sound?

Cold, man.


So, what was done since the latest breakdown?

[jms62]

Originally Posted by moses

Does this mean the other Stronach-owned parks will be doing the same? It seems insincere to do it only at the CA tracks. Will the Preakness ban lasix?

^^^
This

Insincere is putting it mildly. Outrageous that they basically blaming the victim. Do they think people and the press are dumb enough to not ask the question why horses are not breaking down at their other tracks and all tracks in general at the rate they are at Santa Anita? They need to shut it down for the season, rebuild the track from scratch and move the Breeders Cup. How can they and Breeders Cup proceed and risk the potential death blow that the sport would face if we had one or more incidents during Breeders Cup?

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by jms62

^^^
This

Insincere is putting it mildly. Outrageous that they basically blaming the victim. Do they think people and the press are dumb enough to not ask the question why horses are not breaking down at their other tracks and all tracks in general at the rate they are at Santa Anita? They need to shut it down for the season, rebuild the track from scratch and move the Breeders Cup. How can they and Breeders Cup proceed and risk the potential death blow that the sport would face if we had one or more incidents during Breeders Cup?

I could be wrong but I don't think there is anything wrong with the track. Rock-hard, sealed tracks are dangerous. It has been raining for over half the meet. The track is constantly being sealed. I think that is the main reason there have been more breakdowns this meet. I think they need to stop sealing the track. In general it is much safer for horses to run on a deep, muddy track than a rock-hard, sealed track.

I remember the old days back in the late 70s and early 80s when they used to have some of those crazy muddy tracks. I remember one day the track was listed as "heavy". I think they ran a mile in about 1:45. There were a couple of bad things about those "muddy" tracks and "heavy" tracks. There were always tons of scratches. Most of the fields were 4 and 5 horse fields. The winner would sometimes win by 20 lengths and the 2nd horse would beat the 3rd horse by 15 lengths. Some horses hated these tracks and couldn't handle them at all. Other horses would love these tracks. That was why the fields were often times so spread out.

I don't remember ever seeing a breakdown on one of those tracks. The problem was that the fans hated all the 4 and 5 horse fields and they didn't like horses winning races by 20 lengths and other horses getting beat by 40 lengths. It was bad for business. The handle was low on these days. In addition, when it rained really hard, it would take the track many days to recover. The track could get really messed up. So they solved this by sealing the track. That way the track would stay fast. Water would not get into the track. The water would just sit on top of the rock-hard track. Instead of the track being so slow, they would often times get track records on these sloppy tracks.

I always thought these sealed tracks were dangerous. I hated running horses on sealed tracks. When it was my call, I would usually scratch a horse rather than running on a sealed track. Anyway, with the disproportionate amount of rain we have had this winter in Southern California, the track has been sealed this meet far more than normal. I think that is the most likely cause of the increase in breakdowns. I think they should stop sealing the track. If you have a day when it is supposed to rain 2-3 inches and they feel that they have to seal the track, then I think they should cancel the races that day. I don't think they should race or train on a sealed track.

[Dunbar]

It may be insincere, and it may be self-serving. But are there any bad ideas in what they are proposing to do?

[freddymo]

TSG is doing their all to make NYRA Racing Great Again. What owner in their right mind would succumb to this fabricated nonsense?

You chase the respected and highly competent superintendent out, the track gets screwed up, horses die, you spin the issue away from management errors, and lo and behold you ruin your business.

The entry box at Belmont BETTER be bloated.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by freddymo

TSG is doing their all to make NYRA Racing Great Again. What owner in their right mind would succumb to this fabricated nonsense?

You chase the respected and highly competent superintendent out, the track gets screwed up, horses die, you spin the issue away from management errors, and lo and behold you ruin your business.

The entry box at Belmont BETTER be bloated.

Speaking of fabricated nonsense, what owner in their right mind would think that it's good to have a $1,500 vet bill on every horse every month, would think that horses need lasix, and would think that injecting ankles and using all kinds of drugs as a crutch is the best way to go? What owner in their right mind would think the status quo is fine and that we should just continue using all kinds of drugs?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not claiming that lasix caused these breakdowns. I'm simply saying that these changes were long overdue. This current crisis gives them the impetus to start making the changes that will save the sport.

I think these changes will be a huge positive in the long run. In the short run, I don't know what will happen. Some trainers are threatening to leave Southern California. I don't know if they are bluffing or not. If a few do in fact leave, it won't be a problem. But if too many leave, it will be a big problem because there will be a horse shortage, which would hurt field size. We know that small fields are very bad for business.

[Alabama Stakes]

Originally Posted by TouchOfGrey

An Open Letter about the Future of Thoroughbred Racing in California

It seems like the surface is the problem, and this has nothing to do with what the changes they are proposing.