LARRY'S VIEW - CUSHION TRACK DEBATE STILL AN ISSUE

By Larry Cassidy | Friday, March 2, 2012

Larry Cassidy currently has forty-two Group 1 successes behind his name. He is a multiple Premiership winning jockey having taken out three titles in Sydney and one in Brisbane. Larry’s View, the personal blog of this top class rider will appear on horseracingonly.com.au every Friday, workload permitting.

The Cushion track debate in Queensland hasn’t really changed much over time and it is brought back into focus just about every time a meeting is run on it or when a meeting is transferred from the grass to that surface.

Do I have any problem with the Cushion track from a riding perspective?

Let me put it this way, jockeys obviously have their own preferences with regard to the surfaces horses race on and, in my experience I have developed definite likes and dislikes.

Apart from the standard turf tracks, I have ridden on the dirt track in Hong Kong, the Polytrack in Singapore, the Action track at Canberra, the sand in Macau and obviously on both Cushion Tracks here (at the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba).

The point I’m getting to is that when you have had that range of experience, everything becomes relative.

The worst track I’ve ever ridden on is Macau. It is sand. It is course. It is three-and-a-half inches deep and, when it rains … like it did here on Friday night … it turns to porridge. It’s absolutely terrible to ride on.

You learn not to shave a couple of days before you ride on it because it is that course it roughs up your face.

So, going back to the Cushion track, having ridden on something like I’ve just described, I don’t mind riding on the Cushion track. Generally there is not a great deal of kick-back. I think there is more kick-back when it is dry. When it is wet there is minimal kick-back. Obviously last Friday at Coloundra was the extreme.

I prefer to ride on the grass, but I don’t mind riding on the Cushion when I compare it to some of the other surfaces I’ve ridden on because the kick-back is very severe on a lot of those other tracks. Some horses will go on them and some horses simply refuse to go on them because the kick-back is so bad.

The same can be said to a degree about the Cushion track. Because of its particular nature and its obvious difference to the natural surface of the grass, like-wise some horses will run on it on some won’t run on it … and to the punter that aspect is obviously more important than whatever any jockey thinks about the surface.

From the saddle I can say, in terms of a horse’s action, that some horses will stride a little bit higher … have more of a climbing action, particularly when they are back in the field and the kick-back is worse. Like I said, in Macau, where the kick-back is awful, you will get horses really having an exaggerated climbing action. I haven’t noticed that so much here.

I know many trainers don’t like racing their horses on the Cushion. The surface underneath is very hard and apparently the horse doesn’t get the ‘normal’ footing where it can slide so there is a worry about what damage that can cause. That’s my understanding as to why trainers are reluctant to support the track.

I can’t say if horses have pull up badly or what the nature of any injuries might be and whether they are specific to the Cushion track or not. All I do know is that, at the end of the day, the question of possible damage caused to the horse, real or perceived, is a real concern and that has led to small fields which has led to reduced turnover … and, with no turnover, racing suffers.

And that really is the crux of the matter.

There is a place for synthetic tracks in our racing but, quite clearly, the controversy it raises is going to be around for some time to come yet.

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The other debate currently doing the rounds is the question of possible preferential treatment being offered to Black Caviar.

I know it's a competitive market and Black Caviar is a massive draw-card and she is worth money to whichever state gets her for that day, but when there is programmed races on during carnival times … to go ahead and manufacture a race which is going draw attention away from these other carnivals (when Melbourne has already had its own carnival) … I don’t think that is on!

If Melbourne does put on a race on a date which suits Black Caviar’s better, you can’t really begrudge them going there because it is going to suit her program better … but I definitely think it is the wrong thing to do!

Till next week,
Larry

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