from an ESPN The Magazine article/interview with Kenny Mayne.


Mayne: What do you think of all the new synthetic tracks?

Baffert: It costs almost $10 million to put a track in. You could do a mile of freeway for that. If people would've put that kind of money into dirt surfaces, and made some that drain more efficiently, we would've been better off. The new stuff really affects certain speed horses. It takes their brilliance away. That's what I don't like about it. It's changed racing. But I can't see the tracks staying around because they've become a headache to maintain. And they fall apart.