Phony Santa Anita Track Records Set On Near Concrete

Yes, a promising solution emerges for Cushion Track's drainage problems

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
January 16, 2008

Several very good races were run in very fast clockings at Santa Anita last weekend, and no rain fell on the Cushion Track to spoil the party.

Yet all of the track records and ultra-fast clockings that were produced throughout the weekend were completely phony - so phony that Santa Anita should completely disregard all of the new records. No asterisk needed. No asterisk such as the one that may eventually accompany Barry Bonds' phony home run records, records he is presumed to have set with the aid of performance enhancing drugs.

As far as we know, no performance enhancing drugs were involved at Santa Anita last weekend, but the souped-up synthetic Cushion Track had been packed down so hard that it resembled a newly paved interstate highway.

Take, for example, the 1:33.37 mile track record set by the promising El Gato Malo in Saturday's San Rafael Stakes (G2) and the 1:19.89 clocking posted by Indian Blessing while she was tiring badly in the 7-furlong Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) on Sunday. The astonishing fact is that both clockings were the fastest recorded main track clockings for those two popular distances in Santa Anita's 74-year history! By way of comparison, consider this:

Making her first start as a newly turned 3-year-old filly, Indian Blessing merely outran the 37-year-old track record of 1:20 flat set on January 5, 1980 by the great Spectacular Bid when that 4-year-old was beginning an historic unbeaten Horse of the Year Campaign. For his exceptional performance on a reasonably fast (but not wacky-fast) track, Spectacular Bid earned an estimated Beyer Speed Figure of 120 for his superb 5-length victory over multiple stakes winner Flying Paster.

The purpose of Beyer Speed Figures is to neutralize the relative speed of the racing surface. This involves comparing all clockings run on a given day and calculating a logical plus or minus rating or "track variant" to measure the speed of the surface. At the bottom line, all final clockings are adjusted by this track variant to come up with a sensible number that can be used to compare clockings on different days and different distances. With respect to the 1-mile and 7-furlong track records, the raw clockings by El Gato Malo and Indian Blessing had to be downgraded by nearly four full seconds to bring them back to reality.

While the unbeaten Indian Blessing was winning her fourth race and is likely to be declared 2007 Champion 2-year-old Filly at the Eclipse Awards next week, her top Beyer Speed Figure had been 95. Indeed, the Santa Anita track was so absurd last weekend that Andrew Beyer and his associates had to adjust her Santa Ynez 1:19.89 clocking down to a 91 Beyer Speed Figure - equivalent to 1:23.80.

El Gato Malo, last early, benefited from a scorching, strength-sapping, three-way speed duel among Massive Drama, Talk of a Cat and Sierra Sunset. The first 6 furlongs, clocked in 1:07.90, was about two seconds faster than the comparable 6-furlong split for the previous track record clocking set on conventional dirt.

Frankly I have never before seen a track as fast as last weekend's Santa Anita surface and neither has Beyer or anyone since speed figures were invented decades ago.

The aberrant conditions were responsible for blazingly fast clockings all weekend. The ultra-fast track also provided built-in excuses for many poor performances while some horses reportedly suffered a variety of minor injuries racing on a surface that played like concrete.

A solution from Australia for Cushion Track's problems:

When Cushion Track officials failed to resolve the drainage problems that had forced cancellation of racing the prior weekend, Santa Anita's president Ron Charles received a break, almost out of the blue. Enter Australian Ian Pearse, the founder of Pro-Ride, a synthetic track company that had lost bids to install synthetic tracks in California yet had solved similar drainage problems in Australia.

In a series of experiments conducted by Pearse and the University of Southern California's Engineering Department, Pro-Ride polymers were added to the existing Cushion Track surface. It was instantly clear that a solution had been found.

"The test results were dramatic and extremely encouraging," a relieved Ron Charles explained on Tuesday. "Pro-Ride polymers have transformed the existing Cushion Track into the synthetic surface we wanted from the start."

According to Pearse and USC engineers, the Pro-Ride polymers helped water drain through the surface right to the base where a layer of pipes is in place to flush excessive rain away from the racing surface.

Charles said that numerous jockeys and trainers witnessed some of the USC experiments and were now enthusiastically behind the track's intention to introduce Pro-Ride polymers as soon as possible. While this solution is great news for Santa Anita jockeys, trainers, horses and horseplayers, one extremely sensitive issue is still in play - an issue that could mess up the game plan and negatively impact Santa Anita racing. Santa Anita will not be able to complete the process of adding the Pro-Ride polymers all at once. In fact, it will take two or three weeks to fully stabilize the track to the point where it can survive a heavy rainstorm.

Given that reality, it is possible that a rainstorm could seriously threaten important racing dates, including the Sunshine Millions scheduled to be run at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park on Saturday, January 26th.

The Sunshine Millions program calls for four rich stakes at Gulfstream and four at Santa Anita, including the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic on the Santa Anita main track. Any serious rainfall could delay the proper installation of the needed Pro-Ride polymers. In other words, the actual resolution of the drainage problem in time for the Sunshine Millions is at the mercy of Mother Nature.

Added notes: Despite the flawed clockings cited above, there were eight stakes run at Santa Anita on January 12th, 13th and 14th. Five of those races produced impressive performances:

• El Gato Malo winning the 1-mile, $150,000 San Rafael Stakes (G2) with a powerful surge from last to first as if he will be an important horse through the winter and spring.
• Zappa's smooth win in the 1 1/16-mile, $150,000 San Pasquale Stakes (G2), in track record time of course.
• Air Commander and Johnny Eves' tight 1-2 finish over favored Tiago in the 1 1/16-mile, $200,000 San Fernando Stakes (G2).
• Golden Doc A's strong second-place finish to Indian Blessing in the 7-furlong, $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes (G2).
• Lightly raced Zenyatta's easy win over Grade-1 winner Tough Tiz's Sis in the 1 1/16-mile, $150,000 El Encino Stakes (G2).

Steve Davidowitz has written two highly acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing---Betting Thoroughbreds and The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing. He also is a regular contributor to Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus and his columns appear in the Bodog Racebook each week.