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With breakdowns and unsoundness coursing through the sport of racing, including Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's devastating injury just after the start of the Preakness, horsemen are eager to find solutions.
"The injury factor is perhaps more critical now than it has been because there is a widespread perception — not just among fans, but also among owners and breeders — that the thoroughbred species in general has become much more fragile over the last few decades," said ESPN horse-racing analyst Randy Moss. "There's a lot of controversy over what the root cause of that may be."
In 2005, Kentucky's Turfway Park became the first major U.S. track to replace its main oval with a synthetic substance, with Keeneland to follow this fall. In February, the California Horse Racing Board mandated that its tracks must do the same.
Fair Hill Training Center in Fair Hill, Md. — already a state-of-the-art stomping ground for equine conditioners — will become the latest facility to give artificial surfaces a whirl.
Instead of the Polytrack used at Turfway, Fair Hill is turning to trainer Michael Dickinson, who has been manufacturing his own all-weather track surface for eight years — a concoction called Tapeta, a mix of sand, polyethylene fibers, polypropylene fibers, recycled rubber and wax.
The concept is simple: Providing a surface that cushions, supports, absorbs shock and is uniform throughout its span may fend off aches, if not catastrophe.
"We are putting the Tapeta surface in at Fair Hill for multiple reasons," said Dr. Kathleen Anderson, board director for the Fair Hill Condominium Association and owner of her own veterinary practice at the training center. "No. 1 is our attempt to always present the best possible training surface from a soundness and horse-health point of view."
Synthetic materials in general have flashed merit. Turfway has had three fatal breakdowns since the installation of Polytrack, compared to 24 in the same timespan before it.
"The evidence was pretty clear that (Turfway's new surface) went a long way toward preventing catastrophic injury," Moss said.
Dickinson enlisted MIT professor Dr. George Pratt to test Tapeta's mechanical properties, and the numbers suggest that the material is half as severe as dirt surfaces and less altered by repeated impact. It doesn't retain water, which prevents the hazards of sloppy tracks.
"I think it's what the industry needs today," said Steve Klesaris, second in Delaware's trainer standings and also based at Fair Hill. "Horses today are not as durable as they were years ago; however, the tracks have not changed in 100 years. The time has come for that."
There is some uncertainty to the synthetic switch. Polytrack has been imperfect in its infancy, and racetrack managers are wary of investing in such young and expensive technology. Previous synthetic installation costs were estimated in the range of $5 million to $10 million. There's also concern about how it will hold up at tracks where the weather can be harsh.
Dickinson concedes that signing on to synthetic is a hefty investment, but cites several ways in which Tapeta could become irresistible, starting with its safety for jockeys and horses.
"If there are two tracks and one has got it and the other hasn't, I believe that most owners would go to the synthetic one," Dickinson said. "Injuries hurt you in the pocket, but they hurt you mentally as well."
Of all the pluses, it's the potential to ward off heartache that has the most allure. While even the gentlest surfaces cannot block all injuries, the elimination of preventable catastrophes has promise.
"I think once it's tweaked, over the next couple years, it's going to be a very, very big bonus to the whole thoroughbred industry," Klesaris said.
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