Tell NYRA to Stop It!!!
NYRA Customer Service at Belmont (~ RAYMOND)
As I was watching the video of Dr. Ian McKinlay repair a quarter crack over at fellow TBA-er Fran’s fab Hoofcare Journal, I was struck by something he said about Belmont.
He talks about how it’s apparent to him that the track is really hard at Belmont right now and how he never used to see wall separations, but in this year alone they are 30% of the injuries he sees! Sprinkle in Paul Moran’s recent post about hard tracks and that the person at NYRA who is responsible for the maintenance of the track goes by the nickname of “fast track” and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
John “Fast Track” Passero first popped up on my radar last summer when Bloodhorse ran an article about how the New York Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association voiced it’s displeasure with the overly fast surfaces.
Trainer Tom Bush was quoted as saying:
“Horses are running way too fast; we’ve got track records being broken,” Bush said. “The track is hard because there isn’t enough preparation after repetitive sealing. Horses are suffering from more foot issues–shedding frogs and bruises–and it is because they are being concussed. After all, the message on John Passero’s cell phone is, ‘John Fast Track Passero.’”
What was “Fast Track’s” response?
“I was a bit surprised by all this,” Passero said. “I don’t know what is driving this train. If horses are having problems, it’s not because of the track. I will stand by the tracks. The NYRA tracks speak for themselves.
So, over tea this morning (which is actually having the desired “happy caffeine feeling” effect, unlike yesterday) I put this letter together to send NYRA. I sent it to nyra@nyrainc.com, the only email address I have (as it’s listed on their site)… if anyone has a better address, please post it here!
I encourage you to copy this letter and send it, or write your own (it’s not like mine is stellar, I just wanted to send something)… but PLEASE, voice your displeasure over their ridiculous practice! Over sealing tracks to make them artificially fast is a complete scourge that must be stopped, let NYRA know that!
To Whom it May Concern:
The recent report of the reemergence of Big Brown’s hoof problems combined with the following quote from Dr. Ian McKinlay are disconcerting at best.
“The tracks at Belmont have definitely firmed up, I can tell that from they type of injuries I’m getting now. When I started in 85 at Belmont, very rarely would I see a wall separation, which starts in the sole. You get an abscess in the sole and it travels up the wall and eventually comes out at the hairline, it’ll take the whole quarter out… I never saw them. As of the the last 4-5 years I’ve been getting more and more of them. This year being 2008, I’m probably running at 30% of the injuries are these wall separations.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5gU1K7KtQ
(quote is from the video and starts at 5:58)As a fan of the sport and NYRA track regular I’m asking that you please stop your practice of over sealing all NYRA tracks. The fact that the director of racing surfaces, John Passero, refers to himself as “fast track” sums up the attitude that must be examined and addressed in this new era of concern for safety of the horses and scrutiny by the media.
Last year when the horseman brought the issue of the over sealed track to the attention of NYRA, Passero was quoted in Bloodhorse as saying:
“If horses are having problems, it’s not because of the track. I will stand by the tracks. The NYRA tracks speak for themselves.”
http://www.bloodhorse.com/NOW/News/TopNews/40544.aspx
Please, for the safety of the horses, reexamine and change your track maintenance practices, enough is enough!
Posted by dana on May 26 2008
Filed Under: You Can Help, TBA, Industry, Raymond Haddad, :(, Injury, Belmont, Grrrr, NYRA, Racing
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well done. thanks for posting.
Hi Dana,
Just to clarify: I have heard that there is a definite distinction between The Track and the training track at Belmont. New York is a harsh place to keep a horse in training through the winter, whether at A or B, and I also think that the training surface is usually mentioned as related to the hoof-related problems, not the racing surface, which makes sense since winter racing is at A, not B.
If the main track was a problem, even this early in the season you’d be hearing complaints from the horsemen about injuries, whether bigtime or soft tissue, during the race or post-race. So far, I haven’t heard that.
The Grayson Jockey Club Foundation’s Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit featured a panel of track supers from California and Kentucky, representing both dirt and artificial. They were great, I learned more from that one session than I dreamed there was to know. We need to get these guys out to share their viewpoint more. Or, a video of that panel would be great.
Stay tuned…thanks for your interest in what we are trying to do to help horses from the ground up! I can’t say enough about the people–farriers, vets, therapists–out there on the front lines working on these horses to both treat and prevent injuries. It’s a great field to be part of.
Fran
Thanks Charles!
Thanks for the clarification Fran! I would love to know more about track maintenance and agree getting the supers out there can only help!
The thing that struck me, and actually motivated me to write the letter, was Dr. McKinlay’s cite that roughly 30% of the injuries he’s currently seeing are wall separations compared to next none when he started with an increase over the past 4-5 years.
I don’t doubt that the horseman would be complaining, but given the reply from John Passero on their complaints last summer, I don’t have much confidence that the complaints would be given the proper consideration. That aside, sometimes, even if no one ever reads that email and no one else complains to them, I need to do something other than blog about it.
At any rate, thanks for keeping us up to date! We’re lucky to have you sharing your unique vantage point!
Following the questions about the track at Saratoga last year, I believe that horsemen met with track maintenance folks, and the horsemen’s concerns were addressed. See Alan’s report about it from last September, and I swear that I remember a summer meeting as well, but I can’t find anything about it.
Thanks for info Teresa, definitely encouraging.
NYRA doesn’t take my calls… but nice letter.
T, turns out I did pick up on that, I had just forgotten!
Michael, thanks! You’re so not the only one on the NYRA “ignore” list. I emailed them about 3 times asking them questions about their online wager accounts, and nuttin’.