As many of you know, Del Mar opens tomorrow, and the #1 topic of interest (as last year) is the surface. Last year, running time were WAY slow on the new Del Mar polytrack, in stark contrast to the times of morning workouts there. The reason was thought to be the "marine layer" that's present at the seaside track during the early-morning hours, as the fog and dampness that envelops the track at the time of day was thought to tighten up the surface and make it spongier. As the day wore on however, the marine later would burn off, and the track would loosen up considerably, resulting in the slow times. Many calls came from horsemen for Del Mar to start watering the track (to get it back into early-morning shape during racing hours), but Del Mar refused, as they were instructed by the designer of Polytrack not to water the surface. This year however, Del Mar is taking matters into their own hands, and has announced plans to water the surface continually, from Day One. Running times are expected to be signifigantly faster, and the surface (in theory) should be kinder to frontrunners, who had a helluva time hanging on over the deep, tiring surface last year.

Keep your eyes focused on those early results; they could play a big factor in determining the outcome of future races.

Here's something i read in Gaming Today, a weekly Vegas publication. The column is by Ed Golden, who has done the Stable Notes on the SoCal circuit for years.

"In addition to water, they say they've added another material and they're very happy with it." - quote from trainer David Hofmans