Del Mar Track This Year

NorthStar · Postby **NorthStar** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:51 pm

Been too busy to follow, training my own horses on farm. Is the synthetic as treacherous for soft tissue injuries as in recent years? Or has it been improved? I hear the turf is really chewed up from one owner that was going to run before her horse got hurt at Hollywood.

louis finochio · Postby **louis finochio** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:40 am

The poly track is going great. The difference this season, is the vets are scratching those tb that are off & not letting them run. There have been a few tb injured in the AM, way down from last year.

The key to the safe poly track is, the tons of claims that are being made, as those tb are running back before the meets end.

docjocoy · Postby **docjocoy** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:23 am

louis finochio wrote:The poly track is going great. The difference this season, is the vets are scratching those tb that are off & not letting them run. There have been a few tb injured in the AM, way down from last year.

The key to the safe poly track is, the tons of claims that are being made, as those tb are running back before the meets end.

What do the "tons of claims" have to do with the safety of the polytrack?

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:54 am

He answered it Doc.

those tb are running back before the meets end.

bdw0617 · Postby **bdw0617** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:55 am

i have pretty given up on the del mar main track unless i really really really really really like a horse, turf races only

docjocoy · Postby **docjocoy** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:43 pm

zinn21 wrote:He answered it Doc.

those tb are running back before the meets end.

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:31 pm

Sysonby · Postby **Sysonby** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 5:43 am

There are always a ton of claims at Del Mar because it is Del Mar. That has nothing to do with the track itself. They could be running on broken glass.

It is hard to tell from the syntax but louis do you actually know of horses claimed early in the meet who have run back? Because otherwise you are crystal ball reading....

louis finochio · Postby **louis finochio** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 6:56 am

Those tb will run back as the purses are great, & they like the surface. Will those claimed tb like the new dirt track at SA? Only time will tell, owners are on vacation & like to see there claimed tb in action, thats what makes DM a great summer meet.

NorthStar · Postby **NorthStar** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 3:49 pm

Talked to a long time, class trainer yesterday and he said he hates the track. That they are watering the two inside lanes more than the rest of the track.

Others have said the turf is a mess, which cannot be very safe. Perhaps all the uncertainty and talk of selling Del Mar caused the powers that be to skip the care and attention to the track that it required.

Doesn't give much confidence but certainly glad to hear the track vets are finally doing their job, after all the years of breakdowns and rediculous amounts of money spent on the track band-aid cure.

Horses are still bowing quite a bit in the mornings it seems.

louis finochio · Postby **louis finochio** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:02 pm

Trainers that hate the poly track, are not winning races. It's the same at every track, the losers rebel & the winning trainers rejoice.

The vets have told me, DM has the safest track, as the injures are way down.

docjocoy · Postby **docjocoy** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:54 am

louis finochio wrote:Trainers that hate the poly track, are not winning races. It's the same at every track, the losers rebel & the winning trainers rejoice.

Well, Louis, something we agree on. That quote is so true, human nature being what it is. And that feeling is not just limited to the poly. Trainers at all tracks, if they are not winning, will blame the surface, and if they are winning, will highly praise the surface.

Laurierace · Postby **Laurierace** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:37 am

I was at Del Mar for the first time ever yesterday and was amazed at how the turf course appeared. I wasn't out on the track to see if what appeared to be thousands of holes everywhere actually were in fact holes but it was ugly. I have never seen a track look even remotely that bad.

Diane · Postby **Diane** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 1:43 pm

I was there thursday. They did have guys with buckets filling in divets after each turf race but I couldn't see what was in the buckets. What surprised me was how low the humidity was, even with morning and evening fog. Water is a really big deal on the coast out here. Even recycled water has a high salt content. They are developing sod that can tolerate a higher salinity but I doubt that this turf is new enough to grow well with the water it gets. Another mildly odd thing that I noticed was the parking lots had no markers to tell you what section you were in and no trash cans. Things that are low on the replacement level budget so they didn't get done this year?