by Paul Post

A New York state task force has planned a one-day forum to discuss the pros and cons of synthetic surfaces, one of the Thoroughbred industry’s most hotly debated topics, especially in the wake of filly Eight Belles’s death in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

The session seeks input from all stakeholders—trainers, owners, jockeys, veterinarians, and fans—and is scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT July 29, the first dark day of the Saratoga Race Course meet. The event is tentatively slated for Saratoga Spa State Park’s administration building in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The 13-member New York State Task Force on Retired Race Horses, re-established last year by state law, has been charged with promoting useful second careers for former equine athletes, everything from pleasure riding to physical-therapy programs. The panel also has been directed to study the synthetic track issue. Findings of both studies will be forwarded to the state Legislature by July 2010.

“The synthetic issue is going to be a full day if we’re going to do it justice,” said panel member Jack Knowlton, Sackatoga Stable’s managing general partner.

Artificial surfaces—a composite of sand, wax and shredded rubber—are designed to prevent serious injuries, but trainers, owners, and fans are divided about their benefits.

“The data thus far shows a reduction in fatal injuries, maybe 25%,” Knowlton said.

But he said that trainers are reporting more soft tissue, back and hind-quarter injuries with artificial material.

“Owners and trainers are interested in having horses sound so they can race,” he said.

Last year, two new artificial training tracks were installed in or near Saratoga. One is at the former Whitney farm, bordering the south side of the track’s backstretch. The site was purchased last year by Thoroughbred owner Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

The other is at Stonebridge Farm, in nearby Northumberland, New York, owned by Jeffrey Tucker, chairman of Empire Racing Associates, one of three groups that challenged New York Racing Association for the right to run Saratoga, Belmont Park, and Aqueduct. The task force plans to visit this farm as part of its fact-finding duties.

NYRA has considered installing artificial surfaces, starting with Belmont’s training track, but each new track is expected to cost at least $10-million. NYRA is still trying to emerge from Chapter 11 protection and probably will not have money for artificial surfaces until gaming revenues start to flow from Aqueduct’s proposed racino.

Prior to the Saratoga meet, which begins on July 23, the task force also is expected to hold a public forum on retired racehorses, giving people an opportunity to make suggestions and recommendations. Panel members said that more than 600 horses are retired from NYRA’s three tracks and upstate New York’s Finger Lake’s Racetrack each year.

“Public input is very important,” Knowlton said.

Soon, the panel will distribute a survey to Thoroughbred owners, trying to get more accurate information about the number of horses that are retired each year and where they end up going.

Paul Post is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent