Setting the record straight

From the Maryland Jockey Club

Baltimore

Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito drove into Pimlico Wednesday morning around 9 a.m., several hours before the scheduled van arrival of his 19th Preakness starter, Stevil. He brought with him a message about the burgeoning issue of synthetic surfaces vs. the traditional dirt tracks, like those at Pimlico and Churchill Downs.

“I made some statements about the synthetic tracks, and the one thing I needed to address and get across is that our family and our owners, daily basically, rescue horses,’’ Zito said. “The Hancocks have a horse shelter that they put together. Kim, my wife, was involved along with a lot of other great people. What we do in our stable, all my owners from John Hettinger down, is we’re rescuing horses and saving horses’ lives, supposedly doing the right things for horses. Because I speak out on the synthetic surfaces, it’s not because we never want to protect horses.’’

Zito said he still believes that dirt tracks, with a little research and development, remain a preferable alternative to synthetics, which have been widely implemented nationally and also are under consideration for study by other groups like the New York Racing Association (Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga Race Course).

“As you know, I’m a dirt-track guy,’’ he told a group of media members outside the Preakness Stakes Barn. “The issue with Eight Belles (who broke down after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and was euthanized) is going to come up over and over this week. You know just as well as I do, or better, it’s more than the tracks. My thing right now is to try to protect the dirt surfaces as good as we can.’’

Zito said he did some personal research on the recent Oaklawn Park meeting, where from some 4,600 starters, there were only five breakdowns (one a 7-year-old, one a 9-year-old) during the meeting that went from Jan. 18 to April 11 – a 30 percent drop from last season.

“They resurfaced the track this winter,’’ Zito said. “They also installed an on-site soil analysis lab. They lost just three days of racing (that were weather related). Zito said the entire cost of the resurface and lab operation was roughly $100,000 – a significantly lower number than the $50 million NYRA officials had given a local publication when estimating the cost of going synthetic on its three tracks.

“We have a big issue protecting these horses,’’ said Zito, who said he and several colleagues were concerned that the synthetic surfaces might tend to produce future generations of thoroughbreds with turf proclivities and reduced dirt-track abilities. “If (Oaklawn) can do something like that with that least (amount of ) money, there should be more research into dirt. I’m here to protect the game. We’re in American racing, not in English racing or French racing. If you go to all synthetics, there’s a good possibility you’ll be racing in England and France.’’

Zito also said there’s not enough research regarding soundness as it pertains to synthetics vs. dirt at this time. He also said that famed acupuncturist Dr. Marvin Cain has detected some physical issues (particularly in the hind quarters) with certain horses he’s treated for Zito after they have performed on synthetic tracks, referring to it as Polytrack Syndrome.

Cain examined both Cool Coal Man and Stevil after the Blue Grass on Keeneland’s Polytrack and found the former had a physical reaction after the race, while Stevil did not. Stevil finished fourth, Cool Coal Man was ninth.

“It’s not an exact science, but one horse (Cool Coal Man) didn’t like the Polytrack and had some issues in behind,’’ Zito said. “The other horse cleared perfectly. The horse is the main thing. We want to preserve the game.’’

Casino Drive right at home in New York

From the New York Racing Association

Casino Drive came out of his victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Peter Pan as effortlessly and professionally as raced in his United States debut.

“He is happy; he loves it here and he is doing very well,” said Nobutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management Ltd., on Wednesday morning. “He could run in the Preakness.”
Of course, Casino Drive will not be running in the Preakness, the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown for three-year-olds (NBC, 6:15 p.m.). The spotlight at Pimlico is on Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, and if he wins the mile and three-sixteenths race, he will look to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner when he comes to Belmont Park on June 7 for the 140th running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes, the “Test of the Champion.

And Casino Drive will be waiting.

Bred for the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes, the oldest and longest leg of the Triple Crown, Casino Drive is a half-brother to 2006 Belmont Stakes winner Jazil and a three-quarter brother to 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches, all three sharing the same dam, Better Than Honour. A son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, Casino Drive dazzled everyone on Saturday with his 5 ¾-length victory in the nine-furlong Peter Pan, which he completed in 1:47.87, handily.

“We always felt he was a good horse, and he showed his ability the other day,” Tada said. “We are hoping Big Brown wins on Saturday. We think the Belmont Stakes will be a very exciting race for everyone.”

Tada said that Casino Drive will head back to Japan after the Belmont Stakes and then prepare for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held October 24-25 at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet in California.

“If we stay beyond 60 days here, then we face three months of quarantine in Japan,” Tada said. “So, he is going back to Japan after the Belmont Stakes.”

Stablemate Spark Candle, who was sixth in the Peter Pan, will not run in the Belmont Stakes.

“He came out of the race well, and we have some options with him,” Tada said. “We might go on the turf in the Hill Prince (Grade 3, $100,000-added, three-year-olds, one mile, turf, Friday, June 6) or we might keep him on the dirt.”

Another horse, Champagne Squall, who is also owned by Hidetoshi Yamamato, will likely run Saturday on the turf.

New York Racing Association Stakes Coordinator Andrew Byrnes is also excited about the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown, depending on what happens in the Preakness, and Casino Drive will be facing the likes of Denis of Cork, who was third in the Kentucky Derby, Tale of Ekati, who was third in the Derby, Anak Nakal, who was seventh in the Kentucky Derby and Tomcito, seventh in the Peter Pan.