Good News!! Keeneland opens fall meet with new racing surface

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Owner Louis Haggin didn't have to look at the clock to know his horse had made history. "We've got the new track record," Haggin said after Lordly sprinted to victory Friday in the first race of Keeneland's fall meet. Indeed, Lordly was -- albeit briefly -- the record holder. As the first victor on the new Polytrack surface, any time would have sufficed because Keeneland has thrown out the old records achieved on dirt.

For years, track president Nick Nicholson has pushed for a new surface, wanting to reduce the injuries to horses and jockeys. Polytrack -- made of sand, synthetic fibers and recycled rubber -- allows horses to bounce softly off the surface rather than noisily pound it.
"It's just like walking on a floor," Nicholson said. "The more noise it makes, the harder it is. When you hear this soft muffled sound, you know a horse's and rider's legs aren't having the concussion they had before. Muffled is very good."

Martin Collins, the inventor of the surface, watched the first race with Nicholson in the winner's circle. The two also led a ribbon-cutting ceremony, using a ribbon signed by Keeneland's employees and the construction workers who scrambled to get the track ready over the summer. "It's quite an emotional day," Collins said. "People have always been a bit worried about the times. It shows today this is a safe, quick surface."

The only major complaint, Collins said, comes from the purists. That includes bugler Bucky Sallee, who has trumpeted horses to the starting gate for some 43 years. "You can't stand in the way of progress, I guess, but I kind of liked it the way it used to be," Sallee said. On the dirt surface, Keeneland had been known as a great track to bet on a speedy horse taking the rail. But, theoretically, Polytrack is supposed to even out the advantage and allow every horse to have an equal shot at victory.

Polytrack wasn't the only change at Keeneland -- the track has undergone a complete facelift. It has more room for spectators in the apron area along the concourses. The video board that shows the live race is crisper, and a smaller video board shows a cartoon version of the race while it happens. The Polytrack vs. dirt debate didn't matter much to 3-year-old Devin Elkins, who was attending his first race. "I like the horse that's got brown hair," he said.