Santa Anita Park’s new Pro-Ride racing surface made its debut on Wednesday on opening day of the 2008 Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet. It replaces the former Cushion Track, and subsequent Cushion Track/Pro-Ride mix.

During the past Santa Anita meet, some of the broken asphalt base rose to the surface. Some jockeys wore protective plastic shields over their faces to block pieces kicked up by horses in front of them.The new Pro-Ride track now has a layer of “grit” replacing the asphalt, and a porous membrane separates it from the layer of rock beneath it. According to Santa Anita President Ron Charles, the new track is “87 percent natural dirt.” Maintenance is extremely low, with one manure-scooping break in the morning and one harrowing after training.

 It appears much the same as before except for a slightly darker color. Horses’ hoof beats are almost silent as they go by, and their feet do not sink as far into it as dirt. There is no smell to the surface from the track apron, as other synthetic tracks had when they were newly installed. A member of Santa Anita’s starting gate crew filed a complaint to the California division of OSHA about the fumes that rise from the warmed surface - fumes so strong that the crew wore masks when they were out working on the track. Santa Anita hired an independent researcher to inspect the new surface, and no health risk was found.

Some things remain to be seen for the Pro-Ride surface. Some of the synthetic surfaces were originally only training tracks before being installed as racing surfaces in the United States. When 2,000 horses use a track for training and racing, the materials may wear out. Hollywood Park had to renovate its Cushion Track surface because of the heavy traffic it gets as a racetrack and year-round training site.

Another major hurdle is rain. The Cushion Track surface passed through the dry autumn of the 2007 Oak Tree meet without a hitch, but once a wet winter came during the Santa Anita meet, the surface’s draining flaws were quickly exposed. The answer to how Pro-Ride handles rain may have to wait a while.

For more reviews and reports on the new surface, check these links:

Thoroughbred Times - Aug.30
Daily Racing Form - Sept. 22
Oak Tree press release - Sept. 24
Daily Racing Form - Sept. 24
Thoroughbred Times - Sept. 24
Blood-Horse - Sept. 24

-Marcie Heacox

Video updates from Arcadia’s Best:

Also, the track can be seen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the
workout webcam.

Santa Anita has already lost too much money on its dysfunctional Cushion Track that was installed in the summer of 2007. This Pro-Ride overhaul has to work, or they could lose the Breeders’ Cup for this year, and possibly next year, not to mention millions of dollars. When the track failed to drain during winter rains, Ian Pearse of Australian-based Pro-Ride came to the rescue. Fine sand had clogged the drains, and water was sitting on the surface of the track, resulting in 11 lost days of racing. The drains were rinsed and several layers of liquid binder were sprayed over the wax-covered sand. This worked well, save for one hiccup late in the season, but the base was also broken, so Santa Anita decided to have a complete replacement of the track, with pure Pro-Ride materials.

Hopefully, as Richard Tedesco mentions in the video, rocks do not reappear. Several jockeys, including national leader Garrett Gomez, wore plastic shields in front of their face to protect themselves from flying rocks. Morning outriders would often stop and dismount their ponies to remove large rocks from the surface. Unfortunately, one problem will likely remain. Strong fumes rose from the rubber-based Pro-Ride materials when heated by the sun, prompting assistant starters to wear masks (pictured left).

Time is short for the Pro-Ride installation to be finished, but once it is complete it should yield better drainage, more days of racing, and a safer surface for the horses and riders.

In the ever interesting world of synthetic racing surfaces and the synthetic versus dirt argument that prevails daily on any backstretch of a California (and probably North American) racetrack, it was announced today that Santa Anita is suing Cushion Track for the problems that occurred in the past nine months.  It is still not apparent what is the final decision for Santa Anita with horsemen still enamoured by the existing surface that is for lack of a better word, a hybrid racetrack since Pro Ride came in to assist in February.

Not withstanding the fact that the Breeders’ Cup will be run at Santa Anita during the Oak Tree meeting, all eyes are on what is going on in Arcadia.  We at Fairplex are waiting to see what transpires 20 miles west of here as we are nearing a point where a decision will have to be made on what type of surface we will install with the expansion project.  As a training center that will service Santa Anita, Hollywood and Del Mar, what is at the other sites along with their trials and tribulations, will weigh on the selection decision.

As with much of racing and synthetic surfaces…Stay tuned!