Surface expert to study main track at Keeneland before Breeders Cup

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Noted racing-surface specialist Mick Peterson was scheduled to return to Keeneland early this week to reassess the safety of the main track in the wake of four fatal equine breakdowns during the meet as the Breeders’ Cup approaches.

Peterson, a college engineering professor and executive director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, is the primary consultant to Keeneland and other major racetracks in regard to surface condition and safety. He was here days prior to the Oct. 2 start of the fall meet to give his standard checkup to the racing surfaces, according to Keeneland officials. The confidence of horsemen has been tested as this meet has unfolded. Four horses, all stakes winners, have been euthanized after suffering injuries while training or racing at Keeneland – three on the main dirt surface and one on the turf. Those horses were Shore Runner (Oct. 3, racing in the slop), Skyring (Oct. 3, racing on yielding turf), Tacticus (Oct. 4, morning breeze on dirt), and Rock Fall (last Saturday, morning breeze on dirt). Trainers of those horses – including Graham Motion (Tacticus) and Todd Pletcher (Rock Fall) – have not blamed the track for the breakdowns. “As difficult as they are to accept, we know that these things can happen,” said Motion.

Pletcher sent several of his top horses, including Liam’s Map, out for work Sunday in tacit approval of the track condition. Rogers Beasley, director of racing at Keeneland, said he and other track officials are “absolutely heartbroken about these breakdowns.” “We are doing everything humanly possible to maintain the highest safety standards,” Beasley said. “We will have Mick here soon to go over everything, and we’ll let everyone know what he has to say.” Several trainers interviewed said they did not know what caused the breakdowns. “From everything we can tell, the track is safe, and I can honestly say that everyone I’ve talked to about it agrees with that,” said trainer Mike Stidham, who won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Saturday with Her Emmynency. “We’re not scared coming back from the track with every set that something is wrong. We train on it, and breeze on it, and race over it with confidence. Obviously, everyone is hoping this is just an aberration. It’s such an unfortunate part of the game.”

The importance of track safety has been heightened with the impending Breeders’ Cup, which will be run at Keeneland for the first time Oct. 30-31. For eight years, Keeneland used Polytrack as its primary surface until the new dirt surface was put into use in September 2014. Two racing-related fatalities were reported during the 2014 fall meet and none at the 2015 spring meet. Switching back to dirt has been cited as a primary reason Keeneland was able to get the Breeders’ Cup.