"Horses died while racing at Santa Anita Park at more than double the rate of horses at the state's other three major thoroughbred tracks over the last fiscal year, according to state statistics. The fatality rate at Santa Anita, in Arcadia, rose significantly after a return to a dirt running surface in 2010 after three years of using a synthetic track, the data show."

"Horses running on dirt surfaces in 2011 at North American tracks suffered fatal injuries at nearly twice the rate of horses running on artificial surfaces, according to a Jockey Club project that tracks equine injuries. The Jockey Club, which released the information Thursday, said that racetracks representing 93 percent of the race days in North American are participating in the project. The fatality rate for horses running on dirt surfaces was 2.07 per 1,000 starts for 2011, according to the data. Horses running on synthetic surfaces suffered catastrophic injuries at the rate of 1.09 per 1,000 starts. On turf, the rate was 1.53 per 1,000 starts."

"Another industry insider, who preferred to remain anonymous, had stronger words when asked why Santa Anita had so many fatalities earlier this year. 'Same ol' (bleepin) thing,' he said. 'Too much cortisone, too much painkiller and trainers that are too greedy and too desperate. I mean, how many of the same guys are breaking down the same horses?'"

"In addition, the racing board’s study expressed concern about the depth of the track, recommending that the cushion, or top layer, be 3.75 inches in depth. Tests conducted during the meeting pegged the depth at levels ranging from 2 to 4.25 inches. The report states that alternations were made during the winter-spring meeting to ensure the cushion was closer to the recommended 3.75 inches, which prevented horses from reaching the harder 'pad' section of the track below the cushion. The study concluded that Santa Anita’s sand-and-clay track never had the intended mix of sand, clay, and silt during the recently concluded race meeting."

"There was a tremendous amount of inconsistency, and if there’s one thing that drives trainers crazy, it’s inconsistency," Arthur said. "Unfortunately, a lot of people gave up on synthetics just as we were learning how to maintain the surfaces."

"There had been 11 racing fatalities over the main track through Sunday, including one horse that fell over a downed horse that had clipped heels. Another seven fatalities had occurred during training hours, including one horse that died after a collision with another horse and one sudden death. 'Of course, last year they were coming off an exceptionally safe surface that really I don't think Santa Anita's ever seen before,' Arthur said. 'I think people were hoping to get closer to that number than what they're going to end up with.' There were only six fatalities -- two during racing and four in the mornings -- over Santa Anita's synthetic surface last year. There were 22 fatalities -- 12 during racing and 10 in the mornings -- when Santa Anita last raced on dirt during the 2006-07 season."

"Why U.S. bettors have not had the same experience as their British counterparts is a mystery to me. The fact is that serious punters in Britain and Hong Kong or wherever bet more adventurously than Americans. It is arguable that form on synthetics is generally closer to turf form than to dirt, so anyone who can handicap grass races and bet on them successfully should have no fears about betting on synthetics."

"Arthur reported that through training hours of March 17, seven racing fatalities had occurred on the main track, which included a horse that fell over a downed horse that had clipped heels. Another six fatalities occurred during training, including one horse injured in a collision with another horse and one sudden death. Five racing fatalities have occurred on the turf course and no training fatalities on the training track."

"Horsemen this winter have been unusually tight-lipped regarding the new main track at Santa Anita. No one wants to knock the surface. Not publicly, at least. But behind the scenes, many are frustrated."

Re: Presque Isle Downs stats: "Three fatalities from 800 races and 6332 starters in 2010. We have had no equine ambulance runs at PID since it opened 4 years ago, not even to take a slightly lame horse off the track."

"Trainer Bruce Headley, who advocated for a return to dirt almost as soon as the synthetic surfaces went in, blamed training on synthetic surfaces for any injuries suffered in the first part of the meeting. 'We’re without fear that every horse is going to pull up bad,' Headley said in support of the surface change. 'Times very are fast because horses don’t stick in it. I know there are some injuries, but it is because horses are coming off synthetic.'"

“Before coming over here from Hollywood I started galloping horses on the dirt training track over there. I took my time jogging and galloping here before I started to breeze, but that didn’t seem to matter. None of the injuries have been things they can’t come back from -- mostly chips and condylar fractures -- but they’re happening to horses I thought were the soundest in the barn."

“That’s somewhat misleading,” Arthur said of last year’s fatality rate. “That was such an exceptionally safe year; everything just worked out. Richard Tedesco did a great job with that (synthetic) track, and I’m sure his guys are going to do a great job with this track, too.”

"Q: As you said, the mandate was initially put in place under the premise that the synthetic tracks would be safer. Is there a concern that fatalities will be under a microscope this meet, and how is the CHRB addressing the shift to ensure that the surface is safe? A: I think we’re doing a lot of different things. One of the things we did, part of the waiver of the mandate, was to require additional veterinarian coverage at the expense of Santa Anita, and that’s been done. So I think there’s a greater degree of pre-race inspecting we are going to do."

"The last terresterial-televised racing before Christmas is likely to comprise all-weather action from Lingfield and Southwell, with only Haydock still in the turf picture, though Saturday's fare in Britain could be hit further."

"If we don't know the fatality rates at each racetrack, how can there be any action taken on the results of the study or, more importantly, how can horsemen decide where to perhaps avoid racing in the future?"

Synthetic surfaces boast fewer catastrophic breakdowns than dirt, Jockey Club stats say.

"Despite the course running fast, leaders staggered home in very slow sectionals but still held on as if by magic -- unless, like Spectacular Award, the run-on horses came up the rail. Horses which travelled up well and switched out rounding the home turn, disappeared into quicksand, never to be seen again."

"The failure of Breeders' Cup Ltd. and the Japan Racing Association to attract more than one foreign runner to the world's two richest dirt races provides some insight as to what the world at large thinks of dirt racing. America's surface of choice appears to be out of favor in most countries.... In this day and age, the quality of a championship race is determined in no small part by the number of top class foreign entries it contains."

"So it is ahead to the past -- sealed tracks and cracked feet, burned heels and rundowns, strung-out fields shying from sandy kickback -- a past in which the inability to deal with the effects of dirt tracks inspired the desperate dive into synthetics in the first place. As usual it will be up to the horses, always the horses, to survive this latest shift in the terrain."

"Because most horses are making a transition from synthetic surfaces, Santa Anita officials are urging horsemen to take a slow approach to introducing their runners to the new track."

"Because most horses are making a transition from synthetic surfaces, Santa Anita officials are urging horsemen to take a slow approach to introducing their runners to the new track."

"The track provided an even surface, consistency of form and really encouraged punting."

"Santa Anita's decision to return to dirt means the only cheering from outside the States is from officials at Ascot and Longchamp. They have to compete with the Breeders' Cup to attract top-class runners for the respectively revamped Champions Day and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe meetings.... The American Thoroughbred appears to be in decline -- and while everyone in their industry fears it, they would sooner bury their heads in the dirt than do something more sensible about it."

"But the winds of change might be shifting again as the Breeders' Cup moves to tradition-rich Churchill Downs this weekend with 14 races worth $26 million. Despite early evidence suggesting all-weather tracks might help limit catastrophic injuries, Santa Anita is abandoning Pro-Ride for dirt. And a number of prominent trainers view synthetics as a well-intentioned movement gone astray."

"I think (the dirt surface) had a great influence on (the pre-entries)," said Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who pre-entered 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in the Dirt Mile. "I think the general consensus in talking to other trainers is it's what we all want. We're in the mecca of racing right here in Kentucky. It appeals to both coasts and of course the Europeans. I think being on a natural surface is huge, huge."

"The richest horse race in history was staged in Dubai earlier today, and it was a $10 million advertisement for how synthetic surfaces can make a complete mess of so-called world-class championship racing. For all that it proved about the quality of the contestants either individually or as a group, the results of the Dubai World Cup might as well have been drawn out of a hat."

"We just started to take the synthetic material off today," Malloy said on Monday. "We've had skip loaders out on the track, piling it up and we'll start hauling it off tomorrow. We anticipate it'll take about two weeks to remove all of the synthetic material. After the rocks are completely removed, the new base material will be applied and we anticipate that will take about two weeks (October 31 through November 13). After the base is in place and compacted to proper density, we'll start to apply the cushion mix, which is what we run on."

"The differences between dirt and synthetic were only amplified last week when news came that Santa Anita’s all-weather surface is going to be torn up and replaced by a traditional dirt course. That was greeted with widespread delight by many Californian horse professionals, a short-sighted reaction that is hardly positive for an American industry under pressure to clean up its act, never mind the impact on those trying to make racing’s world a smaller and more inclusive place."

"Dirt champions break their rivals with a remorseless rhythm. These new tracks, like turf, favour horses that can rip through the gears. Only the most hopeless reactionaries could suggest that such horses lack 'class'."

"'Dirt' was what a vocal and deeply frustrated segment of the population wanted to hear. 'Dirt' represented the comfort of the known, a familiar demon that had been wrestled in the past instead of something that emerged from a laboratory test tube. For a large portion of Stronach’s audience, 'dirt' sounded a return to motherhood, apple pie, and pitchers taking their own turn at bat."

"I’m setting the over-under at 35 percent, the number of fewer foreign entrants in the next Breeders’ Cup hosted by Santa Anita."

"... Santa Anita's move to dirt actually will take some heat off the public relations hatred toward all synthetic tracks. In smaller doses at Keeneland and Del Mar, horsemen and horseplayers will continue solid support and those meets will bounce back when the economy rebounds in general. My guess is that the public relations battle would follow similarly." I can see that.

"With a new dirt track to race over this winter at Santa Anita, it'll be put-up-or-shut-up time for horsemen and horseplayers." Related: Trainer Richard Mandella reacts: http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_15835315

"In a move heavily laden with significance for the entire US racing industry, Santa Anita is to replace its troubled all-weather strip to return to a conventional surface." See comment: "I'm disappointed because the European horses won't be as effective in the BC and I can't win as much money on backing them through the Yankie Tote."