Polytrack surface new factor for bettors

[clevfan]

Saturday, March 25, 2006
Polytrack surface new factor for bettors

By Marc Hardin
Cincinnati Post contributor

The betting favorite hasn't won the Lane's End Stakes since the annual race adopted its new name in time for the 1999 season. The last favorite to win was Event of the Year in 1998 when the race was called the Jim Beam Stakes. During that time, the best finish by a favorite was third place by Request For Parole in 2002.

That little bit of recent history is working against morning-line favorite Superfly, the Nick Zito-trained 3-year-old saddled with 7-2 odds by Turfway track announcer and odds-maker Mike Battaglia at Thursday's draw.

However, the 34th running of today's $500,000 Grade II stakes is the first on Turfway's new Polytrack artificial surface. That is a wild card bettors need to consider as they make their selections for today's race.

Polytrack combines a unique draining system with a cushioned surface made of wax-coated polypropylene fibers, rubber and silica sand, which remains consistent in all weather because water drains vertically through the surface with nothing in its composition to freeze or turn to mud.

Four starters in today's Lane's End Stakes have won on Polytrack. They are, in order of odds to win, Laity (4-1), Malameeze (20-1), Pair of Kings (20-1) and Starspangled Gator (30-1). Silent Times (5-1) has trained on the surface. Laity (9th gate) and Silent Times (12th) drew outside posts for Saturday, and the other horses familiar with Polytrack are longshots.

That doesn't faze Bill Gowan, trainer of Starspangled Gator, who will take off from the No. 4 gate.

"I love the post position, and he loves the Polytrack," Gowan said. "He has never been worse than second on this surface."

Silent Times trainer Eoghan O'Neill was so eager to race his horse on Polytrack, he shipped his horse from Ireland.

"I have Polytrack on my farm and I have been pointing Silent Times to this race for three months," O'Neill said.

Turfway's surface attracted Seaside Retreat (12-1 odds) for a different reason.

"They say horses that like grass seem to do well over Polytrack," Seaside Retreat trainer Mark Casse said. "My horse ran once on grass and won, and the horse he beat that day (Bears Kid) came back and won the Summer Stakes."