P-Dub,

I didn't need to redboard Delmar, I bet it for a couple days. And I certainly agree that a few days is not a full sample. Most of my distaste for poly is based on the Keenland meet. You are right, the writing is on the wall, poly is here to stay. Bettors have the choice to adjust and look for winning theories or stay away. For now, I stay away and it sounds like you choose to adjust. Fair enough.

Your last statement was to Miff, but I feel compelled to make one comment, albeit it will sound a bit callous. The "sport" is not just about the horses P-Dub. This isn't the Middle East where the owners run purely for sport and there is no gambling. The reality we live with is that this is a business that involved horses. Without gamblers (and Miff's whales), the sport doesn't survive in the U.S., no matter how beautiful and fast the horses are. I am certainly not proposing we make the sport more dangerous for the animals by running on unsafe surfaces. However, does everybody really believe that the reason we have breakdowns is purely related to the dirt tracks being less safe than poly? Nothing to do with horses receiving drugs that mask physical problems and reduce their sensitivity to pain, thus making them run faster than they normally would and thus enhancing the chance for serious injury? Does this have anything to do with it? With the recent cobra venom found in repeat offender Patrick Biancone's barn, I am not making "wild and unfounded" accusations. I am not saying everybody is doing, but it seems like at least some people are doing it.

I just question whether poly really is the panacea for "safer racing" that the industry is selling it as. Or is it a quick fix/patch that won't stop the problem and scares away at least some of the bettors that fuel the financial side of this sport.

Off my podium now. Good luck betting the poly. You may neeed it!