Oh Baby!
Sizzling times on Polytrack are not supposed to happen, are they? Well, Wednesday night racing at Woodbine has always yielded a lightning fast surface no matter what the construction so perhaps it's nothing to be alarmed with.
But VERNE'S BABY ran the second fastest 7 furlongs ever on a Woodbine main track last night - 1:20.54 - when winning the Overskate Stakes by more than 7 lengths.
The jet-black gelding by Whiskey Wisdom earned a whopping 105 Beyer Figure.
The track played very fast all night but was not neccesarily speed favouring. Several Polytrack records were broken last time after 3 weeks of the surface. Still, the track seemed to play fair at times, if they went too fast up front, they stopped, and inside and outside didn't seem to matter.
The Trakus graphics used after each race shown on The Score broadcast last night were much more interesting than what Woodbine has shown on simulcast and perhaps will have the virtual race available on some channels soon.
But VERNE'S BABY ran the second fastest 7 furlongs ever on a Woodbine main track last night - 1:20.54 - when winning the Overskate Stakes by more than 7 lengths.
The jet-black gelding by Whiskey Wisdom earned a whopping 105 Beyer Figure.
The track played very fast all night but was not neccesarily speed favouring. Several Polytrack records were broken last time after 3 weeks of the surface. Still, the track seemed to play fair at times, if they went too fast up front, they stopped, and inside and outside didn't seem to matter.
The Trakus graphics used after each race shown on The Score broadcast last night were much more interesting than what Woodbine has shown on simulcast and perhaps will have the virtual race available on some channels soon.
posted by Jen Morrison @ 5:52 AM
6 Comments:
At 6:46 AM,
Anonymous said…
Did they do something to the Poly to make it faster? Even cheaper claimers were running in 1:09. I remember, just a few short weeks ago, when the horses were running slower and running out of steam(front runners) when they hit the top of the stretch.
At 6:55 AM,
Jen Morrison said…
A week ago this past Monday/Tuesday, the Polytrack was "fluffed up" and a lot of maintenance was done on it, leading to Patrick Husbands to say on air Wednesday night, Sept. 13, that the surface was the best it had been since it opened. Any moisture on the Poly tends to tighten up the waxy granules (check out a story on DRF.com by Ron Gierkink last week on Polytrack) and certainly on a Wednesday night, with moisture in the air, cool temps and no sun, the track does get fast. Is it supposed to be that fast and is it still safe? Time will tell I guess..
Jen
At 7:12 AM,
Anonymous said…
So, does this mean that front runners have that much more of an advantage? After watching last evenings card(at Woodbine), the speed didn't tire out. Or, if it did, everything behind it tired as well. Nobody came off the pace.
Can there be a bias with a Poly track surface?
At 7:16 AM,
Jen Morrison said…
All I can say at this time is that the horses have to be somewhat close - as in 3-4 lengths from the leader. Riva's Tribute rallied wide in last night's finale although he sure was not too far back. There should not be a bias...not sure there is one right now because front runners did not win all the races. A puzzle for sure!
At 7:37 AM,
Anonymous said…
Riva's Tribute never ran for $12,500 before, and those fractions were pretty tough to sustain, especially when everyone was on trying to take the lead. A classier horse, like Riva, just had to wait for the front stuff to die.
I guess class will always prevail, even on Poly!
At 7:16 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Jen,
Never know what you'll run across when simply googling "Nothanksforaskn"! (LOL)
I'm here to tell you that it is raining here in Seahawk country and, heck, I guess I can chime in on "fast times" too.
The (still "dirt", not poly') track here is like greased lightning most of the time, and particularly so in April and September when the ("fast"-rated) surface can hold its water best.
If only Woodbine-type horses could run on this surface, every 3-year-best time would be here. Somebody went 6 furs. 1:07 2/5 the other day and got a yawner of a 98 Beyer. Last year somebody went 6 1/2 in 1:13 FLAT (N.W.R.) and was first dealt a ho-hum "96" Beyer for it. (appropriately so)
Anyway, saw you here and wanted to let you know that I noticed you in cyberspace.
I'm just digging into the 'Derby and thinking the horse I googled might just be in an entirely different league.
Time will tell.
Regards,
G. in S.
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