Page 12 - The Game September 2006

12 The Game, September 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Polytrack:The New Age of Thoroughbred Racing
By Peter Gross
It was one of the most fascinating meetings ever held on the property first built by E.P Taylor. On the morning of August 22, about 200 trainers, owners and backstretch horse people gathered at the south side of the track at Woodbine, about where the starting gate for a five-furlong race would be.
Hosting the curious throng were the three men most responsible for the installation of Polytrack, a surface that will profoundly change the nature of horse racing in this country.
Woodbine President and CEO David Willmot was flanked by Polytrack creator Martin Collins and project co-ordinator Gary Kretschmer. Collins, whose desire to make a better racing surface grew from his years of riding jumpers in England, explained the theory and design of his brave new track and all three men answered the questions thrown their way.
An almost giddy Willmot seemed thrilled to finally see the new surface, which we were told still needed a lot of work to become the even, reliable underfooting the horses have been promised.
“It really is a revolutionary surface,” said Willmot, “And I think it’s the single most important thing we’ve done for the horse in the history of this company.”
We were all invited to play in the giant sand box that is the new Woodbine track. Up close, it looks very much like the stuff you get in one of those frozen Pillsbury chocolate chunk cookie packages, there are large dark hunks of rubber worked within a sandy beige concoction that is rich in fibrous substance. We all got on our knees and grabbed handfuls; the stuff does not run off between your fingers, but tends to hang together like a shovelful of sod.
Collins flew in from England to see how well his plans are being executed.
“They’ve done a very good job,” he observed, “Everything’s been done by the book. We’re very pleased with the drainage and the drainage layer. I would say this
is the best laid asphalt we have seen on a track.” Polytrack is much more than just an exotic substance poured onto the ground. The most revolutionary thing about this product is the vertical drainage system that comes with it. Seven inches of rubber and waxy silicon material rests on a bed of porous asphalt that draws all water to the layer of rocks below and then into a sophisticated drainage grid. Project co-ordinator Kretschmer says because of this, there is no further
need for the track to be contoured for run-off. “Conventional tracks remove the water by horizontal drainage and that requires water to run on a slope and run out,” he explains, “Because we have vertical drainage, we can go to a flat track and what it does is eliminate the horses running on
different footing. Ultimately it’s safer.”
Few Woodbine trainers have run more horses than Roger Attfield, who has long been a vocal advocate for a better racing surface. Attfield had an experience earlier this year that completely
convinced him of Polytrack’s benefits.
“I’ve trained a lot of really sore, old arthritic horses on this surface and it’s like night and day,” he said, “One of those horses, Pellegrino, was very sore. He hadn’t won in almost two years. I worked him over the Polytrack for five days and he loved
it.”
Pellegrino then went out and won the gruelling
mile and half Elkhorn Stakes on the grass at Keeneland paying off at more than 24-1.
“It’s going to impact the game,” said Willmot without a grain of equivocation, “The useful
racing lives of horses will be extended. They love
it because it feels consistent. They know the next step is going to feel the same as the last step. From a financial model, it’s much better for the owners and trainers. Healthier horses should result in bigger field sizes and that
means fewer scratches and not having to take triactors and superfectas off.”
Collins did take a moment to advise trainers to employ a little restraint when their horses first take to the new surface.
“It’s like putting a pair of Nike trainers on,” he said, “It makes you want to run on the tarmac. You really get going, but you can overstretch yourself. I’m saying, to start with, hold back, because these horses will want to go quicker than they should be going.”
There is one small, somewhat humorous unpleasantness that had to be brought up. We’ve all seen horses contributing their DNA to the track, often just before entering the starting gate. With a typical dirt track, it was harmless for the horses‚ substance to be simply plowed into the existing texture. But not with Polytrack.
A smiling Kretschmer tried to explain in the most diplomatic way.
“We want to make sure we don’t contaminate any of the material,” he said gingerly, “The
concept of this track with the wax is to make sure we repel the water. If you introduce any organic material, that will absorb the water and, in the winter time, that’s what freezes.”
Which means some lucky person’s new job will be removing horse extract every time an animal releases a personal donation to the racing surface.
This is an $11 million project, a cost Woodbine fully expects to earn back with higher wagering on bigger fields and much fewer lost racing days. In fact Willmot was practically praying for a deluge of biblical proportions just to prove how easily Polytrack will shrug off inclement weather.
“The first time there’s one heck of a downpour on this racetrack,” he offered gleefully, “People are just going to shake their heads.” Then he realized that he didn’t want to jeopardize some of the wonderful grass races this fall.
“Let’s have a real hell of a storm in early November,” he suggested, “And watch how we make out!”
Barring any unforeseen disaster, racing on Polytrack at Woodbine has begun even as you read this article. The evidence is overwhelming that the horses will love it. That will make owners and trainers ecstatic. It’s the horse- players themselves who may take the longest to adjust.
“You’re not going to have the speed bias anymore,” points out Kretschmer.
That’s one betting concept you can scratch.
“I think you’re going to see the distinction between turf horses and dirt horses narrowing,” advises Attfield.
So toss that strategy.
And those of us who love to play front-runners in the slop, or plodders on a slow track or stalkers in the mud - well, we’re doomed. That kind of thinking is now obsolete.
All those great handicapping strategies right down the drain.
Well, at least, they’re being drained vertically.
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