Down and perhaps dirty in California

California has only Biblical disasters – fire, trembling earth, searing winds, savage storms, synthetic racetracks, mudslides, celebrity breakdowns, the California Horse Racing Board.

Until Wednesday, horses had trained at Santa Anita for only two of the last six weeks and three days of racing were cancelled last week because the vertical drainage system beneath the newly installed Cushion Track does not work, leaving the surfaced flooded by the huge storms that battered the West Coast last week.

For all concerned, the situation at Santa Anita is unconscionable and the finger of blame points first to the developer of the Cushion Track system, then to the California Horse Racing Board, which mandated the installation of synthetic surfaces at all major racetracks in the state. There was neither a firm basis nor logic to the decision, which was made in ill-conceived reaction to the breakdown of Barbaro in the 2006 Preakness, a tragedy that had nothing to do with the racing surface at Pimlico but brought about tsunami of irrational, emotional reaction that will, and is, exacting a steep price. Once knees begin to jerk in California, anything might happen.

Though other racetracks have experienced problems with the maintenance of Polytrack and other synthetic surfaces, nowhere has a meltdown been more literal than at Santa Anita, where it appears the management is leaning toward a return to a dirt surface in a desperate attempt to salvage the meeting, which is scheduled to continue into April.

The CHRB has approved a change of venue to Hollywood Park while Santa Anita officials deal with the debacle as well as a return to a more suitable surface – dirt!

At the time the CHRB decreed that the state’s tracks would be resurfaced data was sparse and remains so. Assessment of performance was – and is – years away, yet the regulators of racing in one of the sport’s most important markets saw fit to make leaps of both logic and faith in the interest of perceived if misdirected concern for the safety of horses and riders.

No horses are safer than those unable to train and race. No jockeys kept from earning a living by the chaos resultant from the placement of power in the hands of the inept and misguided are ever injured. In a perverse sense only a Californian would appreciate, the installation of synthetic surfaces on the West Coast has successfully reduced all but financial injury to humans.

Weather more typical of Southern California has returned and it may be possible to race over the Cushion Track in dry weather. But California winters can be rainy and the next storm will again flood the course. Santa Anita officials are at work on a plan that would allow racing under less than dry conditions but it is impossible to be not skeptical.

Removing the synthetic surface in favor of a return to tried and true dirt would be the most obvious solution. The CHRB is in no position to take a firm stance on its synthetic surface decree and would do well to issue a never-mind directive. First, though, the Santa Anita brain trust is expected to present the board with a contingency plan, perhaps on Thursday.

This should be good.

Perhaps there is a silver lining inside the California storm cloud. Perhaps the CHRB struck a blow for sanity by exposing its own lack of insight. Perhaps there will be no more synthetic surfaces installed by well meaning if misled racetrack officials.

We can only hope.

Special Eclipse to Kentucky Horse Park

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced on Wednesday that the Kentucky Horse Park, the world renowned educational theme park and equine competition facility, and home for 23 years of the great racehorse John Henry, has been honored with the 2007 Special Eclipse Award. The Special Eclipse Award, which is presented by the National Turf Writers Association, Daily Racing Form and the NTRA, honors outstanding individual achievements in, or contributions to, the sport of Thoroughbred racing.

Founded in 1978 as the first national horse park, the Kentucky Horse Park has expanded over the years to feature as many as 53 different breeds of horses at work and at play. The park showcases the horse in daily equine presentations, horse drawn tours, horseback riding and pony rides, and cultural exhibits. The park hosts nearly 900,000 visitors and 15,000 competition horses in 75 special events and horse shows each year. It is also the home of the National Horse Center, a collection of 34 national, state and regional equine organizations.

Among its equine competitions, the park is the annual host to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, which nearly 97,000 fans attended in 2007. In 2010, the park will play host to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the first time this global event has ever been held outside of Europe. More than 60 nations are expected to compete.

The park is perhaps best known for its Hall of Champions, which is home for retired champions of the race track and show ring, most notably, two-time time horse of the year, John Henry, who lived there until his passing last October, and was its most popular attraction. “For 23 years, we were able to care for John Henry, while he was visited by millions of fans, and allowed us to tell our story,” said Nicholson. “John Henry epitomized our philosophy that horses are our heroes and our partners.”

“John Henry’s indomitable will and spirit symbolized the love and dedication that the Kentucky Horse Park has given to the Thoroughbred industry over the years,” said Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the NTRA. “On behalf of the presenting organizations of the Eclipse Awards, we are proud to bestow this most deserving honor to the men and women of the Kentucky Horse Park.” -- NTRA


At Gulfstream

Six-year-old Brazilian-bred Einstein, who went down in a frightening spill as one of the favorites in the Dixie Stakes on Preakness Day at Pimlico is set to return to action in Friday’s allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.

“He fell trying to avoid a fallen horse and bruised a splint bone,” trainer Helen Pitts said on Wednesday morning. “Fortunately, he didn’t suffer a major injury, but we gave him plenty of time off and this race came up at the right time to get him going again.”

The dark bay Spend a Buck horse won the Gulfstream Turf Handicap two years ago after a seven-length romp in an ‘off the turf’ allowance race. He was back for another good effort in the Gulfstream Turf early last year, finishing third, beaten three-quarters of a length by Jambalaya. In two subsequent starts before his unfortunate experience in the Dixie, Einstein won the Mervin Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap at the Fair Grounds in March and finished seventh in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs over a ‘yielding’ course on Kentucky Derby Day.

“Getting him going again is the immediate goal for now,” said Pitts. “Then we’ll consider a number of options that would include the Gulfstream Turf or a race on dirt. At this point we won’t rule out anything, including the Donn.”