Racing saddled by injuries

New surface might keep stars healthier, on track

ELMONT, N. Y. — The Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships will feature equine talent in all sizes and shapes when the eight racesworth $14 million are contested Saturday at Belmont Park.

The only common bond is that the horses who go to the starting gate are survivors in a sport in which injuries take a heavy toll.

“ We’re so used to dealing with and enduring the loss of horses,” Breeders’ Cup President D. G. Van Clief says, “ we take it as part of whatwe expect by year’s end.

“ We all knowthat this sport is like others, and sometimes when you get to the - nals you are missing a star shortstop orwide receiver.”

This year, though, the Breeders’ Cup must do without numerous stars, a symptom of a more widespread problem that has tracks around the nation scrambling to - nd able bodies to - ll their races. Short - elds are less attractive to bettors and therefore have major - nancial rami - cations.

“ Year in and year out, this is a very serious industry issue,” says Keeneland President Nick Nicholson, who hopes the scheduled installation of Polytrack, an arti - cial surface that might be easier on horses, at his Lexington, Ky., facility can be important to the solution.

The star of the 3- year-old Triple Crown series is long gone for the second consecutive year. Smarty Jones, after narrowly missing sweeping the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 2004, never raced after the Belmont because of bruises on all four cannon bones.

A > eet Alex has been sidelined since triumphs in the last two legs of the Triple Crown followed a near miss by a length in the Run for the Roses. He suffered a fracture of the left front shin.

Surprising Derby victor Giacomo is recovering from surgery. Bellamy Road, an early- spring sensation, has twice been sidelined by injuries. He will spend the winter recuperating.

Among older horses, Dubai World Cup champion Roses in May and turf horse Kitten’s Joy were retired by owner Ken Ramsey because of injuries. Ghostzapper could not make it through the summer to defend his crown in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Leading trainer Todd Pletcher accepts bruises and sprains and worse as inevitable. Out of the running:

Three- year-old star A > eet Alex, with Jeremy Rose aboard, is sidelined with a left shin fracture. Some trainers say hard tracks are a major reason horses are injured.

“ These horses are performing at very high levels, and they are running perhaps faster than they have at any point in history,” Pletcher says. “ Those things are going to come.

“ The only way to totally prevent them is not to run races or

train horses.”

At the same time, it appears a

number of factors conspire to

work against soundness.

Ramsey, for instance, laments

the degree to which Thoroughbreds are pushed and prodded

during workouts in the interest of

driving their prices higher at auctions for 2- year-olds in training.

“ These horses sold at these sales,” Ramsey says, “ they ask them for their lives.”

Once horses are sold, some trainers continue with an extremely aggressive regimen every morning in pursuit of an enormous early return.

“ I have had trainers grind them out of the starting gate for speed, speed, speed,” Ramsey says. “ I don’t have those trainers anymore.”

Conditioners insist talented young horses being pointed toward Triple Crown races have no chance for success if their still-developing bodies are not pressed to the limit.

“ When you are on the Kentucky Derby trail, being patient doesn’t happen,” says John Servis, who oversaw Smarty Jones. “ You have a schedule you have to stick to. You can’t miss a day here or there.”

That kind of pressure to reach the Derby on the - rst Saturday in May with a legitimate chance has brought a premature end to the racing days of countless promising Thoroughbreds.

“ If they didn’t have to do what they do, sure it

Saturday

Belmont Park NBC, 1 p. m. ET Today would prolong their careers,” newly inducted Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito says. “ But that’s notwhat American racing is about.”

In addition, there are widespread complaints that tracks are manicured on the days of major races to be extremely hard and therefore more conducive to sharp times.

“ Most trainers know on race days you’re going to get hard, fast racetracks,” Servis says. “ A harder racetrack is de - nitely harder on a horse because of the pounding.”

The industry is beginning to believe that Polytrack, while not a panacea, can play a major role in keeping horses healthy and able to compete more often. The surface is a blend of - bers, recycled rubber and silica sand covered with a wax coating. This is laid on top of a vertical drainage system.

Keeneland has used Polytrack for its training track since September of last year, and Turfway Park, in Florence, Ky., switched to that surface last month.

“ I can tell you from training on it at Keeneland, it is miraculous,” Servis says. “ It is so kind on a horse. If you have a horse with a little arthritis or a little in > ammation, you see a difference in two or three days.”

Nicholson says: “ I have never seen a new product receive such widespread heartfelt support as this surface. If you could interviewthese horses, they would tell you they love it. You can tell they are having so much fun.”

Van Clief, who also heads the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, recognizes that all racing would be greatly enhanced if injuries can be reduced.

“ It could very well be that the future of our sport rests on Polytrack,” Van Clief says.

By Gerald Herbert, AP