Page 30 - The Game October 2006

30 The Game, October 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
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POLYWOOD - CONT. FROM PG 8
Usually the last to figure things out are the bettors and the Polytrack has been a veritable Rubic’s Cube to most of us. From the first 100 races run on the rubber, silica, carpet fibre and wax mixture, favourites got it done only 27 times, somewhat less than the one for three percentage that would be typical.
“I think you can see that the handle has dipped during this experiment,” says Bannon, “As we start to build data on it and we see how horses can wake up on it and how turf horses adjust to it, then the betting public will slowly gain confidence and embrace it.”
What the fans are seeing clearly is that the racing surface has become eminently fair, as opposed to the speed-favouring track that Woodbine used to be. Bannon feels this is letting horses achieve their true potential.
“If you’re a $50,000 come-from-behind horse, you’re really only worth $20,000 on the speed favouring track,” assesses Bannon, “Now you get on the Polytrack, which can allow that style to win and you start to reclaim your value.”
It is clear that the surface is much fairer now than it ever was. Because of that the fans have witnessed the sharp filly Financingavailable winning on the front end in the Algoma Stakes and Great Win stalking the front runners, before taking over in the stretch to win at odds of 30-1 at a mile and sixteenth. The brilliant two year-old Barilko led almost every step winning the Swynford on September 16. Barilko is now 4 for 4 in his young career with victories on the old main track, the inner dirt and now on Polytrack.
There have also been some spine-tingling moves from out of the blue that have electrified the fans. On September 2, jockey Tyler Pizarro, without the benefit of a whip, steered Dancer’s Flyer from 9th at the half to first at the wire for his first lifetime. On the 8th of the month, Corey Fraser was last on Ice Melted after two furlongs, but rallied the Robert Tiller trained colt past the entire field to win.
And then there’s Whiskey Swish. Winless for more than 13 months, the five year-old mare went off at 20-1 in a $40,000 claim race on September 2, but erupted from 13th down the backstretch, dancing around horses in mid-stretch like a nimble half-back to win by a length. Eleven days later, in a tougher allowance race, Whiskey Swish duplicated her effort, trailing by ten on the backside, only to rip through the field to win at more than 15-1. That effort made Whiskey Swish the first horse to double up on the Polytrack. Gerry Olguin was the happy passenger on both trips.
“I’ve never had that much horse before,” he reports, “I just left her alone in the early part, and start picking it up around the half mile pole and she had the same late kick again. She’s really easy to steer.”
It might be good for Olguin to be picking up a few more wins on the Polytrack because the benign nature of the new track could hurt him business- wise. Fellow rider McAleney pointed out that because there is so little kickback, and no sloppy or muddy tracks anymore, jockeys have much less use for a locker full of eye-protection.
“If I went through six dozen pair of goggles in the past, I might go through a dozen pair of goggles now,” he says.
This might concern Olguin who, along with his wife Robin, operates The Jocks Room, a jockey’s clothing and equipment store in the Woodbine back- stretch and goggles used to be a popular item.
“The goggle situation has come down,” admits Olguin, “Cause nothing flies back. I haven’t even had to pull a goggle.”
Before you reach into your pocket for a donation to the Gerry Olguin trust fund, be reassured that Olguin seems about as flexible and resourceful off the pace as Whiskey Swish. The jockeys now realize that their goggles aren’t going to be scratched and ruined to the same degree, so many of them are considering more expensive, longer lasting eye wear.
“I’m stocking some different kinds of goggles,” smiles Olguin, “I’ve got some fancy ones.”
On the internet, you can find out more about Olguin’s jockey clothing and what protects the riders’ eyes the best.
Just Google goggles.
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