Railbird

Still, we must keep our eyes trained on synthetic issues of concern: Are the surfaces carcinogenic? Are they worth the money, time, maintenance headache involved? Are they equally fair to all pedigrees? Are the BC "championships" legitimate when "dirt" horses are forced to compete over an artificial surface? And do they reduce breakdowns or just change the kinds of injuries horses endure?

I understand, and I'm all for more research. We have enough synthetic surface tracks across the country now that there's no reason not to sit back, collect data, see what patterns emerge re: health concerns (although, honestly, those seem overblown to me, especially considering what blows through the air of your typical urban area), safety issues, maintenance and money. The small point I'd like to make re: discussion of synthetics is that many critics see extreme bias toward early/stalking speed as the norm, and so decry synthetics allowing more off-the-pace types to win as a wacky, fundamental to change to the game, when all that's happening is (well-installed, well-maintained) synthetics are allowing (what I think of) as the true pace of a race to emerge (not Del Mar last year, but so far, Del Mar this year).