Entrants in this weekend's Central Bank Ashland race to the finish during one of the final Grade 1 races to be held on Keeneland's Polytrack surface.Keeneland Photo
Lexington, KY – Eight years after its installation of a synthetic Polytrack surface on its main track, Keeneland announced it will make the switch back to a conventional dirt surface this summer.
The new dirt material has been thoroughly tested over the past year according to officials, and will rest on top of a unique drainage system for a “next generation” racing surface. Keeneland’s team has worked with track specialist Dr. Mick Peterson, executive director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory to examine the needed materials, drainage system and design to make the surface consistent and safe.
“This is not a decision that we have undertaken lightly,” said Keeneland president and CEO Bill Thomason in a release. “From the outset of the synthetic surface installation in 2006, we have always said that this is a journey and not a destination. The racing landscape has changed, and for that reason we have an obligation to our horsemen and to our fans to evaluate where the industry is going.”
The synthetic Polytrack is a mixture of sand, recycled fiber and recycled rubber. Keeneland entered into a partnership with its British-based manufacturer Martin Collins Equine Services in 2004 and installed the material on both its main and training track, but dissolved the partnership seven years later.
The training track will remain a Polytrack surface.
The original purpose of the switch to synthetic was to reduce the rate of fatal breakdowns on track, and most studies (including one released last Monday by The Jockey Club) indicate that synthetic surfaces do, in fact, reduce fatal injuries to horses. Some studies, as well as individual horsemen, have indicated however that daily training over synthetic surfaces may be associated with a higher incidence of stress-related injuries, particularly hind-end and soft tissue problems. Although not as catastrophic, these types of problems can often be career ending for Thoroughbreds.
The surface was also billed as being lower-maintenance (a plus for track operators) and more consistent (a plus for handicappers tired of seeing one running style consistently more successful than another on dirt). Over time, officials have realized it is neither. California mandated that its tracks switch over to synthetic as quickly as possible in 2006, and discovered the hard way that the drainage system under a synthetic surface is every bit as important as the material itself. Santa Anita Park spent $11 million putting the wrong type of sand base in, ripping it up, and putting in a new base with a different mixture of synthetic racing surface.
Handicappers and trainers alike found that synthetic surfaces usually played well to horses who ran on turf, but many horses who were accustomed to dirt found synthetic objectionable and did not run as well on it. As a result, trainers began to steer their biggest dirt stars clear of tracks where synthetic surfaces were installed.
Experts now believe that though synthetic surfaces are used with great success in Europe, differences in climate and an increased amount of horse traffic over American racetracks have been the reason that the story has ended very differently in the United States.
Whatever the reasons, the heyday of synthetic surfaces looks to be at an end. Synthetics were installed at Turfway Park, Keeneland, Woodbine Racecourse (Canada), Arlington Park, Santa Anita Park, Hollywood Park, Del Mar Racetrack, Golden Gate Fields, and Presque Isle Downs. Santa Anita has since switched back to dirt, and Hollywood Park has since closed. Del Mar announced plans to return to dirt earlier this year, as it, like Keeneland is mounting a campaign to host the Breeders’ Cup.
The upcoming Breeders’ Cup, like the five before it, have been held either at Churchill or Santa Anita. Two of those Cups, 2008 and 2009 were held on Santa Anita’s synthetic surface that was converted back to dirt in 2010 as the 2010 and 2011 events were awarded to Churchill, which never installed a synthetic racing surface.
Turfway Park, which is owned in part by Keeneland, will keep its Polytrack surface, according to Keeneland officials. Turfway hosts a race meet through the winter and the material has generally performed better in cold temperatures than its dirt surface used to.
Keeneland management hopes that the switch back from synthetic will provide more consistency for horses accustomed to running on dirt at neighboring Churchill Downs, or elsewhere on the eastern racing circuit.
“Owners and trainers who compete at the highest level prefer a dirt track,” said leading trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “For us, being based in New York, it’s what our horses are used to running on. Keeneland’s return to dirt will provide greater consistency for horses shipping in from New York, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas and other tracks around the U.S.”
Keeneland plays host to several prep races for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, which are run over a dirt surface as well. A winner of the track’s signature pre-Derby race, the Blue Grass Stakes, has not won the roses since the track was installed, although 2012 Blue Grass winner Dullahan did finish third in the Derby.