New York State Meets Polytrack Talk

The New York Task Force on Retired Horses assembled a forum that met in Saratoga Springs today.

A panel of horse racing officials and experts discussed the pros and cons of possibly removing the dirt racing surfaces at horse racing tracks in New York and replacing them with polytrack, which just so happens to be the exact mission/vision of this platform.

Funny Cide partner at Sackatoga Stable, Jack Knowlton, is questioning the move with concerns about the potential effects of a polytrack racing surface on the soft tissue in the ankles of horses. He added that trainer Barclay Tagg is also opposed to polytrack on many levels.

I respectfully and strongly disagree.

Last week or so, the California Horse Racing Board banned the use of steroids in thoroughbred racing.

California was already pioneering racing reform efforts from a statewide level when it mandated its tracks to remove all dirt racing surfaces and replace them with polytrack.

I am in absolute support of the exact same effort in New York State. California is a model for making horse racing safer by making safety a top priority. What a concept.

Back to Jack Knowlton. He owns one of the most famous horses ever from New York. Stewart's, the upstate chain of general food and ice cream stores, has a flavor called Funny Cide Pride.

But, to me, it seemed Mr. Knowlton's overall point was that the alleged damage that polytrack can incur would cause a higher number of horses to be retired earlier than usual.

Let's say that NYRA moves to install polytrack and as a result, more horses go into early retirement due to the damaging effects.

Wouldn't that be better than the horses potentially dieing from being injured on dirt surfaces?

My understanding, shared with the state of California Horse Racing Board, is that polytrack is safer than dirt.