Report: NYRA considers installing a synthetic track at Saratoga

The New York Racing Association is considering installing an all-weather surface at Saratoga.

NYRA is already building a new synthetic track at Belmont Park. And, president and CEO Dave O'Rourke told Bob Ehalt of BloodHorse on Thursday that the association is "taking a hard, internal look at synthetics and what options we have and are studying a synthetic track at Saratoga."

O'Rourke told Ehalt that NYRA's consideration of an all-weather surface at Saratoga was something that had been going on for 10 years, and is not something the current management began.

According to O'Rourke, NYRA is considering the option of replacing one of the two turf courses with a synthetic course. Depending on the width of the new course, it could allow for more rail placements on the remaining turf course, in turn alleviating some of the turf course issues that have stemmed from having a year as rainy as 2023. 36 days into the Saratoga meet, 65 races have been moved from turf to dirt; this is more than the 31 races washed off the grass in the last two 40-day meets combined.

The possibility of a synthetic course at Saratoga has also become a topic of discussion given the horse safety issues that have arisen during the summer meet. According to New York's equine injury database seven horses have died due to catastrophic racing injuries, with another suffering a cardiac episode.

In addition to considering a synthetic surface, NYRA is assessing other options in response to these injuries, and implemented a new protocol starting Wednesday that requires an attending veterinarian to physically examine a horse and attest to their soundness and fitness to run before they enter a race on the circuit.