Stolen from cartoonstock.com
William Bradford, in his journal Of Plymouth Plantation, wrote: 'all great and honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable courages.'{sic}
If this past weekend in any way presages the maelstrom of debate and controversy that will engulf our sport, it will fall to the so-called caretakers of our game to see us through.
We have arrived at the proverbial crossroads. Do we shrink back into the shell of provincialism or venture out into the world of international racing? How comfortable will we be on the global stage, when our drugs and our dirt no longer buttress our weaknesses?
The Breeders' Cup got what it wanted; a global contingent, and those pesky foreigners walked away with the lion's share of the awards. After a fiasco in last year's slop, the Europeans exacted their revenge with blissful abandon. What we witnessed at Santa Anita was the first salvo from the International Armada that will rain down on the San Gabriel Valley next year. How long it takes us to adapt to the new world order will depend entirely upon our tolerance for pain.
If thoroughbred racing in North America continues to breed speed and dirt horses, the end of the year awards will undoubtedly be dispersed amongst horses without a Breeders' Cup victory and the Breeders' Cup will find that its festival of racing has become a parade ground for international breeders. TOBA will most definitely be displeased.
In its decision to hold the BC at Santa Anita two consecutive years, the BC may have inadvertently shifted the fulcrum of breeding towards the Old Continent. Those undecided foreigners, that stayed away to watch the proceedings, are even now, salivating at the mouth in anticipation of the víkingr. Coolmore has already charted the course for their assault; I assure you.
Who do we have that will defend our shores? Da'Tara? Macho Again? Colonel John, our most promising horse that will stay in training finished a well beaten sixth. Big Brown, the unjustly maligned horse, is gone.(How redemptive would that be? IEAH could be next year's Jess Jackson.)
In 2010/11 the stage shifts back to the dirt but those might just be fleeting moments. If the world comes over next year and with it, the betting handle, our days of ignorant bliss could be fading fast. (Maybe TOBA and the AGSC can step up and save us by carding two or three days of racing, with purses in the millions, for horses that have not run outside of the U.S.)
Something has to give. The spastic decisions of the BC, regarding dates and venue, cannot continue. Maybe alternating synthetic sites with dirt sites, if that is how they want to go. Make those that want to get that BC win for their dirt horse have to at least stick around another year to race it. Maybe state that only synthetic tracks will be included in the list of potential sites (Aqueduct hosted once and they could go to the synthetic; it would make the winter racing there a little more predictable. Belmont is big enough to replace its outer turf course with a synthetic one), although I think that would be premature. Dirt is not inherently dangerous.
I am not married to any of these ideas, I am just throwing something out there. This is not the end of the argument or even the beginning; we have cut ourselves off from the rest of the world for too long and it is past time we joined the conversation.
We have a clean sheet. What will we write?
27 October 2008
On paint, plantations and Pandora
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The Bid
Greatest horse ever to look through a bridle
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8 comments:
Here is something to throw out there-Dirt is Natural-been here since the beginning of time--horses have been running, walking, galloping on it for thousands upon thousands of years -Synthetics may be inherently dangerous--have we not noticed the 5 fatal breakdowns at Oak Tree this fall?
Another fine piece of prose.
And while I respect Mr Spa's point of view, like it or not, we witnessed a watershed event on Saturday and personnally I loved it.
In ten years all major track will be synth; the breeders will have to adjust to a new reality.
To tell the truth, it will be a welcome change.
Winston (what an appropriate fake name you chose this year)...i say bring 'em on. It will only globalize the sport more and bring it more attention...I think we're on to something...if only i could understand the euro's PP's!
Great writing, as usual.
I loved Saturday. I loved seeing the European horses win. But I don't wager, so handicapping doesn't factor into the equation for me, in terms of the synthetic surface controversy. While dirt is, like you said, not inherently dangerous, in the long-term, I think synthetic tracks will be more consistently safe. Moreover, I have hoped since they were first introduced that they would favor turf-style horses, so that maybe we'd see a more durable TB. And as far as European invaders, I am pretty certain that cost will remain prohibitive for most European owners, short of, say, sheiks and Irish magnates. Will US horses still need to step up to the plate? Yep. Will this all make for awesome races? Yep.
I liked your idea of alternating years, dirt and synthetic. Make them work for the Cup, and stay in racing another year if necessary. Right on.
....."IEAH could be next year's Jess Jackson"
You're kidding, right?
as long as we're "just throwing something out there" are we possibly making an inductive leap assuming dirt horses are unable to run on synthetic. this post makes it seem as a given, whereas i'm unable to see any evidence to date other than trainer bellyaching. loosers have been blaming the surface since the dawn of man.
Hold All-I meant if they bring Big Brown back to race next year, which decidedly won't happen. If they did though, I see no reason not to afford them the same accolades most have heaped on Jess Jackson for doing so with Curlin.
RR- I don't think I am too far off the mark to state that NA breeders have focused on dirt performance in their sought after pedigrees while the rest of the world has gone after turf. I also think it is safe to say that in general horses of one bent don't carryover their performance to the other surface.
If, by all accounts, synthetics mirror turf in their composition and feel, why is it out of line to suggest that it favors turf pedigreed horses. Can some horses handle both? Sure, but I would suggest they are the exception.
I am not claiming a preference one way or the other. My only point is, the Europeans finally got a taste of blood and they will be coming. The BC opened the door and it remains to be seen if they slam it shut.
Oh, and my apologies....
Thanks all, for reading.
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