Laurie Ross
of Iron Maidens
for Tracksideview.com

Oct. 25, 2009 – It has been almost four years since the first synthetic track was established in North America. In September, 2005 Turfway Park installed a Polytrack surface, and a year later was followed by Woodbine and Keeneland, while Hollywood Park had to be different and invested in the Cushion surface. In 2007, Arlington and Del Mar got on the Polytrack bandwagon. Santa Anita went with the Cushion track, while Presque Isle and Golden Gate installed Tapeta. Even Florida got in on the action, installing a Safetrack surface in Ocala for the Two Year Olds in Training sales and the OBS Champions Day races. In 2008 after disastrous results with the Cushion track, Santa Anita installed the only Pro-Ride surface in the United States. 

 So why should the horseplayer care which surfaces the racetracks installed, since “synthetic tracks” are all lumped together by the statistics gatherers and major racing news columnists? As we’ve seen, and as your wallet can probably testify, not all synthetic tracks play the same. Some horses love the Pro-Ride, while others prefer Cushion. Polytrack plays differently than Tapeta.

This is the second go-around for the Breeders’ Cup over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride track. Horseplayers have all sorts of strategies and angles. Some seem a bit far-fetched, but hey, if it works for you, go for it. One of the most important approaches to handicapping the main track races is to have a basic knowledge of which sires’ offspring are most likely to handle the going. Last year we saw some double digit win payouts and six figure exotics. While factors such as the horse’s form, works over the surface and race day attitude all play an important part in making race selections, pedigree can play an important part too. Especially when the handicapper is faced with a wide open field or comparing horses that seem evenly matched.

While we are still compiling percentages of winners, below is a list of sires who have produced more than one winner during the 2008 and 2009 Oak Tree Meets. While this is not an all inclusive list, it could give the discriminating handicapper an edge. Horses with asterisks at the end of their names are superior Pro-Ride sires. Pay close attention to the Breeders’ Cup entrants whose sire AND damsire are on this list. Hey, it’s worth a shot. That’s why they call it gambling.

Pro-Ride Surface Sire List

Thanks to Steve Thygersen for his input and additions to this list.