THE Ballarat meeting, transferred from the turf to the dirt and eventually abandoned because heavy fog presented safety issues, is another example of why many Australian punters refuse to bet on synthetic tracks.
Heavily-backed favorites consistently perform like mules – as evidenced on Sunday – and the turnover is never anywhere near what a turf meeting would attrack.
This is not a problem restricted to Victorian racing. Even some trainers refuse to start their horses on the despised poly track at the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
Perhaps it’s better for stakeholders than losing prizemoney from an entire meeting. But the majority of punters would prefer if the decision-makers waited for a sunny day and simply transferred these meetings to the turf.
The legendary Dr Geoff Chapman, one-time top Sydney trainer whose opinion of all things racing is well-respected, has some bad news for the punters. He’s written this before but we’ll repeat it. Here is his prophecy:
‘I think ultimately, ALL racetracks will end up Synthetic, because of animal activists banging on about Animal welfare.
Also, if the Jockeys become intelligent (??) they will realize that it is much safer for them, so it becomes a Jockey Welfare issue as well.
Won’t be in my time, but it’s coming.
As you are well aware, they play Gridiron on the taffeta surfaces, so the evenness is beyond compare when considering a grass surface.
Also, grass takes about two years to consolidate (root systems and all that), as you will recall with the relatively ‘new’ track at Eagle Farm and Randwick some years ago.
It will be interesting to see what happens eventually but they should be smart enough to alternate with a Polytrack if it the turf ones start to come apart?
Won’t that put some noses out of joint?
Bookmakers don’t like Synthetic tracks, because the best horse (on that surface) usually wins (unless it’s ‘off’).
If you added the Cutaway rail, us punters would get ALL the money!
C’est la vie.
