Breakdowns to Sharpen Surface Debate

Invasor clinched the horse of the year title by upsettingBernardini, and the 2-year-old Street Sense stamped himself as astar of the future with a 10-length runaway victory at ChurchillDowns. But it is possible that neither of these performances will beremembered as the defining event of the Breeders' Cup WorldChampionships. Saturday's races may have accelerated the adoption ofsynthetic surfaces at American tracks.

The 23rd Breeders' Cup was being contested at what the DailyRacing Form described as a moment of "seismic change" in theindustry. Keeneland had just completed its first race meetingcontested over Polytrack, and its officials hailed the safety of thematerial in comparison with dirt. Hollywood Park, with its newCushion Track, had just begun California's conversion to syntheticsurfaces. The industry seemed likely to be divided on the issuebecause many major players, including Churchill Downs, have shown noinclination to abandon traditional dirt surfaces.

The debate will be sharpened after the Breeders' Cup produced aterrible outcome, summed up by the Sunday morning headline in theNew York Times: "Death Overshadows Upset." Pine Island, the highlyregarded 3-year-old filly, broke down during the running of theDistaff and was euthanized. In the same race, the favorite FleetIndian also broke down, although she was expected to survive. Thesemishaps came at the end of a season in which Barbaro's career-ending injury in the Preakness was the sport's No. 1 story andthoroughbred safety became the sport's No. 1 issue.

There is no proof that racing surfaces -- at Churchill Downs oranywhere else -- are principally responsible for breakdowns. Andthere still isn't conclusive evidence that synthetic surfaces aresafer than dirt. But most people in racing already accept thosepremises, and Saturday's events are sure to intensify the calls forchange in racing surfaces. The Phipps family, which owned PineIsland, is one of the most influential in the sport, and if JockeyClub Chairman Dinny Phipps gets aboard the synthetic-trackbandwagon, the momentum for change will surely gather more speed.While it is debatable whether the Churchill track had anything to dowith the injuries to Pine Island and Fleet Indian, there is littlequestion that the racing surface played an important role in theoutcome of Saturday's races. Usually, Churchill gives every horse,regardless of running style or position on the track, an honestchance to win. Track biases never affect the Kentucky Derby.

On the day of the Breeders' Cup, however, the inside part of thetrack was clearly an advantage; four of the five championship racesrun on the dirt were won by the horse breaking from the No. 1 postposition. Dreaming of Anna led all the way to win the JuvenileFillies as Octave followed her along the rail to finish second.Street Sense hugged the rail as he rallied to an upset win in theJuvenile, paying $32.40. Round Pound, a 14-to-1 shot, stayed nearthe rail and won the Distaff, paying $29.80. The Sprint produced a$965.80 exacta that could only be explained by its winning postposition numbers: 1 and 2.

Horses who tried to rally in the middle of the track seemed tolose their momentum and were out-kicked by horses nearer the rail.Invasor was the only one able to win with an outside rally, but evenhe had managed to stay near the inside until he turned into thestretch. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin rightly hailed the effort byjockey Fernando Jara: "It was an exceptional ride from the 11 post.To get over and be in the two-path around the first turn wasunbelievable."

The rail-favoring bias made it difficult to assess theperformances of many horses in the Breeders' Cup, especially in theJuvenile. Street Sense won by the biggest margin, and earned thebiggest Beyer Speed Figure, 108, in the history of this event. Heimmediately became the favorite for the 2007 Kentucky Derby. But howmuch was he aided by racing on the rail? How much was runner-upCircular Quay hindered by trying to make his strong, wide rally fromlast place? Street Sense may be something special, but he will haveto run another impressive race to make handicappers believe that hisJuvenile performance was completely legitimate.

The Classic produced the confrontation everyone wanted to see,Invasor vs. Bernardini, but it was simultaneously exciting anddisappointing. Bernardini had been highly acclaimed as he won sixstraight races this season, dominating weak fields; none of hisrivals had the talent to give him a meaningful test. Now Bernardinihad his one chance before his retirement to prove himself a trulygreat racehorse. He had no excuses. Invasor was racing wide in thestretch, and his winning speed figure (116) was no better thanaverage for the Classic. But Bernardini couldn't deliver a heroicperformance on a day when the sport needed one.

Breakdowns to Sharpen Surface Debate

Invasor clinched the horse of the year title by upsettingBernardini, and the 2-year-old Street Sense stamped himself as astar of the future with a 10-length runaway victory at ChurchillDowns. But it is possible that neither of these performances will beremembered as the defining event of the Breeders' Cup WorldChampionships. Saturday's races may have accelerated the adoption ofsynthetic surfaces at American tracks.

The 23rd Breeders' Cup was being contested at what the DailyRacing Form described as a moment of "seismic change" in theindustry. Keeneland had just completed its first race meetingcontested over Polytrack, and its officials hailed the safety of thematerial in comparison with dirt. Hollywood Park, with its newCushion Track, had just begun California's conversion to syntheticsurfaces. The industry seemed likely to be divided on the issuebecause many major players, including Churchill Downs, have shown noinclination to abandon traditional dirt surfaces.

The debate will be sharpened after the Breeders' Cup produced aterrible outcome, summed up by the Sunday morning headline in theNew York Times: "Death Overshadows Upset." Pine Island, the highlyregarded 3-year-old filly, broke down during the running of theDistaff and was euthanized. In the same race, the favorite FleetIndian also broke down, although she was expected to survive. Thesemishaps came at the end of a season in which Barbaro's career-ending injury in the Preakness was the sport's No. 1 story andthoroughbred safety became the sport's No. 1 issue.

There is no proof that racing surfaces -- at Churchill Downs oranywhere else -- are principally responsible for breakdowns. Andthere still isn't conclusive evidence that synthetic surfaces aresafer than dirt. But most people in racing already accept thosepremises, and Saturday's events are sure to intensify the calls forchange in racing surfaces. The Phipps family, which owned PineIsland, is one of the most influential in the sport, and if JockeyClub Chairman Dinny Phipps gets aboard the synthetic-trackbandwagon, the momentum for change will surely gather more speed.While it is debatable whether the Churchill track had anything to dowith the injuries to Pine Island and Fleet Indian, there is littlequestion that the racing surface played an important role in theoutcome of Saturday's races. Usually, Churchill gives every horse,regardless of running style or position on the track, an honestchance to win. Track biases never affect the Kentucky Derby.

On the day of the Breeders' Cup, however, the inside part of thetrack was clearly an advantage; four of the five championship racesrun on the dirt were won by the horse breaking from the No. 1 postposition. Dreaming of Anna led all the way to win the JuvenileFillies as Octave followed her along the rail to finish second.Street Sense hugged the rail as he rallied to an upset win in theJuvenile, paying $32.40. Round Pound, a 14-to-1 shot, stayed nearthe rail and won the Distaff, paying $29.80. The Sprint produced a$965.80 exacta that could only be explained by its winning postposition numbers: 1 and 2.

Horses who tried to rally in the middle of the track seemed tolose their momentum and were out-kicked by horses nearer the rail.Invasor was the only one able to win with an outside rally, but evenhe had managed to stay near the inside until he turned into thestretch. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin rightly hailed the effort byjockey Fernando Jara: "It was an exceptional ride from the 11 post.To get over and be in the two-path around the first turn wasunbelievable."

The rail-favoring bias made it difficult to assess theperformances of many horses in the Breeders' Cup, especially in theJuvenile. Street Sense won by the biggest margin, and earned thebiggest Beyer Speed Figure, 108, in the history of this event. Heimmediately became the favorite for the 2007 Kentucky Derby. But howmuch was he aided by racing on the rail? How much was runner-upCircular Quay hindered by trying to make his strong, wide rally fromlast place? Street Sense may be something special, but he will haveto run another impressive race to make handicappers believe that hisJuvenile performance was completely legitimate.

The Classic produced the confrontation everyone wanted to see,Invasor vs. Bernardini, but it was simultaneously exciting anddisappointing. Bernardini had been highly acclaimed as he won sixstraight races this season, dominating weak fields; none of hisrivals had the talent to give him a meaningful test. Now Bernardinihad his one chance before his retirement to prove himself a trulygreat racehorse. He had no excuses. Invasor was racing wide in thestretch, and his winning speed figure (116) was no better thanaverage for the Classic. But Bernardini couldn't deliver a heroicperformance on a day when the sport needed one.