miff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bob,
>
> There is another issue smoldering.The BC may award
> Santa Anita the permanent BC site.There is no
> better venue in the country from many aspects and
> CD sees the BC as a money loser and NYRA is just
> in lame duck status with slots, politicans et
> al.Santa Anita makes the most sense.
>
> One of the stumbling blocks is the synth
> surface.By now, even the clueless at the BC
> realize that many fast dirt runners will no longer
> make the trip to a Santa Anita BC because of the
> rug.
>
> Guessing the rug comes up and Santa Anita gets the
> BC for the foreseeable future.
>
> Mike

Mike,

There is some validity to your argument and I am still wrestling with the issue myself. One one hand when I see horses racing over a good all-weather surface I see the horses bounding in a natural stride otherwise only seen on grass,where horses where evolved to run and which all-weathers are designed to resemble. That's why the number of catastrophic injuries are down because all-weathers have the same cushioning effect and return of energy as natural grass as opposed to conventional dirt tracks, which bear little resemble to the natural soil and grasslands they replace. Dirt tracks may be traditional in this country but that is not the same as natural. I think of a good all-weather track as "naturalized" dirt.
Yes there are still some bugs to be worked out, just as when highways replaced dirt roads, but we have to consider how many less horses have died since Cal went synthetic. This has to count for something.

However, I do see your point that running the races that are supposed to decide divisional dirt championships on a grass-like surface, which some of the winners of the countries biggest dirt races cannot compete on, does create calamity in deciding year-end honors.

As an idealist I wish there was one safe standardized surface (with some variations) on which the best horses would win but as a realist I know that that's not going to happen soon. Perhaps, just like some tracks have 3 courses with 2 turf and one dirt courses like Bel and SA or a turf and 2 dirt courses like Aqueduct, in the future tracks can have a turf, dirt and an all-weather surface, Look at the multiple courses most Euro tracks have and we have a lot more land.

In the meantime, I agree that BC races and divisional dirt titles should be decided on what is that country's current prevalent dirt surface, which is now conventional dirt such as CD, though I also see your point about SA being the most attractive spot. On the other hand, SA's all-weather track is one of the reasons the BC attracts so many Euros and is such a success, so there are problems either way. Of course, I'm not abandoning hope that someday the prevalent dirt surface becomes "naturalized" dirt. We shall see.

Bob