Del Mar's Polytrack era begins

By: JEFF NAHILL - Staff Writer | Tuesday, July 17, 2007 11:16 PM PDT ∞

Jockeys Gary Stevens, right, and Martin Pedroza work out race horses on the track at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
BILL WECHTER Staff Photographer
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DEL MAR -- A new era will be on display this afternoon when the 68th Del Mar thoroughbred meeting gets underway at 2 p.m.

It's white-ish in color and feels like sand in your hands.

It's called Polytrack. It costs $9 million to install and it's supposed to be safer for the thoroughbreds.

You can bet more than a few executives of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will be holding their collective breath with this afternoon's unveiling of its annual 43-day meet, which features a three-way split of the Oceanside Stakes for the first time in track history. The Oceanside will be run at one mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

"I'm going to sleep a lot better come Sept. 8 or something," said Craig Fravel, the executive vice president who has been Del Mar's point man on the Polytrack project. "I've been more nervous other years when we had new tote systems and other things that we were moving in last minute. I think we have a pretty clear feeling about what the race track will be like.

"Any time you have something new, you have to get some comfort levels on it. It's not unusual to be coming off two different tracks up north (at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita) that (the trainers) need some comfort time. Candidly, there were so many rumors flying around before we opened the race track that we have to give everybody a little confidence."

And that can only happen by running racing programs.

The track has been open for morning training since Thursday, but everyone agrees that the track changes as the heat of the day builds up. That's why the real man on the spot might be track superintendent Steve Wood.

"My greatest concern is to follow the instructions from the manufacturer (Martin Collins) to a T," said Wood. "That's all we have to do. He's well aware of all of the pitfalls and how to take care of it. So far, it's been wonderful. Really, really good."

There has been one hiccup along the way. Late Sunday, a change in Polytrack maintenance caused the surface to get harder than it was the previous three days.

Some trainers were upset with the change, didn't do planned workouts and voiced their opinions at a previously scheduled meeting between management and horsemen on Monday morning.

"We promised regular meetings with them," said Fravel, "to keep them informed about maintenance protocols and various issues.

"They love the track. They are very happy with it. They are very desirous of being fully informed about when we do things to it that might be different as we develop our procedures."

Trainer Mike Mitchell said the track was fine on Tuesday morning and he is looking forward to the meet.

"(Monday) was a mistake," Mitchell said. "It happened at Hollywood Park, too. It's a learning experience for everyone. Us trainers have to learn how to train on it and they have to learn how to take care of it.

"I absolutely love the track. The horses work well over it and it has good life in it. I really like these synthetic tracks. It is the wave of the future. It's also healthy when management can work with the trainers to put on a safe track for the horses.

"It will be a different track in the afternoon, but it sounds like they have everything under control. I look forward to running and seeing how the track plays and how the jockeys the adjust. It should be fun."

But don't get the idea that everyone associated with racing is in favor of synthetic surfaces permeating the sport. There are still a few holdouts.

John Sherriffs, who trained Giacomo to a 2005 Kentucky Derby victory and has top 3-year-old Tiago (Giacomo's half brother) in his barn, is still a skeptical sort.

"I have mixed feelings about the synthetic tracks," Sherriffs said. "I'm just not sure about them. This my first year training on one so I really haven't figured it out.

"When I watch horses train on them, it's just a little bit different. Synthetic surfaces are kinder on the front end, but I don't see horses going out there and loving the surface. And I don't see horses just bouncing over it and finishing with a lot of enthusiasm. I don't know if it makes the sport better. It might protect the front end but I think there is a lot more to a horse than the front end."

Said Fravel: "John has been skeptical about these tracks from the beginning. Ever since we started talking about these, he hasn't been enthusiastic.

"I think some guys felt like they had an advantage with surfaces (like dirt) that were perhaps more challenging because they felt their horsemanship gave them an advantage. I can't speak for them, but all I can tell you is that we did what think is the right thing to do. It has been pretty well validated elsewhere."

And Fravel hopes that validation at Del Mar begins today.

-- Contact staff writer Jeff Nahill at (760) 740-3550 or nctnahill@aol.com.