From synthetic to down and dirty

The handicapping axiom says don't bet a horse to do something that it's never done. This year, for the first time, Kentucky Derby bettors will have to assess California horses whose entire careers have been spent on synthetic surfaces at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar. So, do you toss them all out or give them the benefit of the doubt?

James Kasparoff trains Bob Black Jack, who recently set the world record of 1:06 2/5 for 6 furlongs on Santa Anita's man-made main track. He expressed confidence that West Coast shippers will have no trouble handling the quirky Churchill Downs track on the first Saturday in May.

"I think you can train on synthetic tracks and run anywhere," Kasparoff said Tuesday. "I don't think there are any fitness issues if you run on synthetic. I was talking to [trainer] Eoin Harty the other day and he feels the same way. But if you go vice versa, training on a natural track and then racing on synthetic, that's a lot harder to do."

Although Street Sense spun his wheels on synthetic surfaces, he won the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in Louisville as well as the 2007 Derby after running third and second, respectively, on Keeneland's synthetic track. Trainer Carl Nafzger knew his colt much preferred regular dirt, particularly Churchill's, but sent him to Keeneland for conditioning purposes. Hard Spun, second in the Derby, had his final prep over Turfway Park's artificial surface, but like Street Sense, he was a dirt specialist. There's no question that you can move forward on the sandy loam off a race on synthetic, but can a California horse do it right the first time in the Derby?

Unless you can get very generous odds, you have to be very skeptical. The Kentucky Derby presents a unique set of difficult circumstances, handling 1 1/4 miles in a field of perhaps 20 amid a screaming mob of 140,000. To me, putting money on a horse to overcome another major variable in the toughest race of its life doesn't make sense.