(Tuesday, March 2) For the second time in three weeks, Santa Anita had to cancel their Saturday card due to the failure of the Pro Ride surface to drain properly.

Lost on Saturday was a key Derby prep, the $150,000 Sham Stakes (G3), which will be run a week late, messing up preparations for trainers seeking to head down the Derby Trail.

Santa Anita has had plenty of problems with synthetic surface since installed three year ago.

The Cushion Track was replaced with Pro Ride, which has hardly been an improvement.

Racing has had to be canceled 17 times since real dirt was pulled up and replaced with the fake stuff.

When the Santa Anita meeting ends, the Pro Ride surface is going to be replaced, and the logical thing to do would be a return to conventional dirt.

It seems the only sane thing to do.

However, Magna chairman Frank Stronach is actually talking about installing a newer synthetic surface, one that is being used on his training track in Austria.

How Stronach could be considering an unproven synthetic surface after back to back failures is simply mind boggling.

"It's dirt, it's sand, and there's a small amount of fiber in there," Stronach told Art Wilson of the Los Angeles Daily News. "Just picture a beach. It's similar to sand on a beach. It's a very safe surface."

What I can picture is Frank with his head in the sand.

The caveat of this surface is its drainage system. The pipe system waters the track from underneath the surface, reportedly making it

easier to maintain a consistent moisture level.

Synthetic surfaces have not proven to be any safer for horses, have not been easier to maintain, are not leading to larger fields, and certainly have not been weatherproof.

The manufacturers of these surfaces sold these fake tracks under those assumptions, and tracks bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

Now they are stuck with surfaces that nobody likes, including many trainers and owners. Horseplayers for the most part seem to despise them.

The idea that Stronach would even consider another fake track shows just how delusional he is.

But that should be no surprise to anyone that has been watching the decline of his tracks over the past decade.

In a recent Bloodhorse article titled, "Stronach, CA Horsemen to Discuss Problems," he said he is starting a series of discussions in an attempt to fix racing's "broken business model."

Stronach was quoted as saying, "The primary reason I wanted to come out was to interface with people--horse owners, trainers, government officials--to say that the business model of the present-day racing industry is outdated. It doesn't work."

He continued to mention owners, trainers, and breeders in the article, but nowhere in the article or in his quotes could I find the word "customer" or "bettor."

Apparently, the very people that drive the entire industry are not a concern for Stronach.

Perhaps with his tracks about to be sold through bankruptcy auctions, now might be a good time to see what the customer has to say.

The article concluded with another quote from Stronach:

"The first step is to think about it," he said. "What can we do collectively to improve racing?"

A good start would be for Stronach to completely sell off his track holdings, and get out of the game as a track owner.

That would be a good first step to improving our game.

Step 2 would be replacing the rubber balls and fibers at Santa Anita will good old fashioned real dirt.

California horsemen could use at least one conventional dirt surface to prep for the Kentucky Derby.

More trainers are starting to skip the traditional spring Derby preps at Santa Anita, instead shipping to Oaklawn Park, Fair Grounds, or Gulfstream Park.

Racing in Southern California is becoming more irrelevant with each year, and if yet another synthetic surface is installed at Santa Anita, it truly will become the laughingstock of the industry. Santa Anita Surface a Sham, Yet Stronach Considers Another Fake Surface (Monday, March 1) For the second time in three weeks, Santa Anita had to cancel their Saturday card due to the failure of the Pro Ride surface to drain properly.

Lost on Saturday was a key Derby prep, the $150,000 Sham Stakes (G3), which will be run a week late, messing up preparations for trainers seeking to head down the Derby Trail.

Santa Anita has had plenty of problems with synthetic surface since installed three year ago.

The Cushion Track was replaced with Pro Ride, which has hardly been an improvement.

Racing has had to be canceled 17 times since real dirt was pulled up and replaced with the fake stuff.

When the Santa Anita meeting ends, the Pro Ride surface is going to be replaced, and the logical thing to do would be a return to conventional dirt.

It seems the only sane thing to do.

However, Magna chairman Frank Stronach is actually talking about installing a newer synthetic surface, one that is being used on his training track in Austria.

How Stronach could be considering an unproven synthetic surface after back to back failures is simply mind boggling.

"It's dirt, it's sand, and there's a small amount of fiber in there," Stronach told Art Wilson of the Los Angeles Daily News. "Just picture a beach. It's similar to sand on a beach. It's a very safe surface."

What I can picture is Frank with his head in the sand.

The caveat of this surface is its drainage system. The pipe system waters the track from underneath the surface, reportedly making it easier to maintain a consistent moisture level.

Synthetic surfaces have not proven to be any safer for horses, have not been easier to maintain, are not leading to larger fields, and certainly have not been weatherproof.

The manufacturers of these surfaces sold these fake tracks under those assumptions, and tracks bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

Now they are stuck with surfaces that nobody likes, including many trainers and owners. Horseplayers for the most part seem to despise them.

The idea that Stronach would even consider another fake track shows just how delusional he is.

But that should be no surprise to anyone that has been watching the decline of his tracks over the past decade.

In a recent Bloodhorse article titled, "Stronach, CA Horsemen to Discuss Problems," he said he is starting a series of discussions in an attempt to fix racing's "broken business model."

Stronach was quoted as saying, "The primary reason I wanted to come out was to interface with people--horse owners, trainers, government officials--to say that the business model of the present-day racing industry is outdated. It doesn't work."

He continued to mention owners, trainers, and breeders in the article, but nowhere in the article or in his quotes could I find the word "customer" or "bettor."

Apparently, the very people that drive the entire industry are not a concern for Stronach.

The article concluded with another quote from Stronach:

"The first step is to think about it," he said. "What can we do collectively to improve racing?"

A good start would be for Stronach to completely sell off his track holdings, and get out of the game as a track owner.

That would be a good first step to improving our game.

Step 2 would be replacing the rubber balls and fibers at Santa Anita will good old fashioned real dirt.

California horsemen could use at least one conventional dirt surface to prep for the Kentucky Derby.

More trainers are starting to skip the traditional spring Derby preps at Santa Anita, instead shipping to Oaklawn Park, Fair Grounds, or Gulfstream Park.

Racing in Southern California is becoming more irrelevant with each year, and if yet another synthetic surface is installed at Santa Anita, it truly will become the laughingstock of the industry.

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