Where the turf meets the surf … but not Chinese waste products
By Gina Spadafori
July 18, 2007
Long-time blog followers know my guilty pleasure: I’m a horse-racing fan. And this the best time of year for those of us who follow this stuff, with Del Mar opening today and Saratoga opening soon.
Catastrophic track injuries are not uncommon in racing, of course, for both horses and jockeys. (The biggest reason why the pleasure is a guilty one.) Barbaro brought the deaths into the spotlight, and also brought greater urgency to mounting calls for safer racing surfaces. In California, all tracks are converting to synthetic tracks in place of dirt (Bay Meadows may close instead, since it’s already slated for development) and Del Mar’s track is new.
But read this, from the L.A. Times story on the new synthetic surfaces, including Polytrack:
“America has been a very difficult market,” conceded Polytrack inventor [Martin] Collins.
Some of Collins’ frustration may be directed at California Coastal Commission standards and environmental concerns that forced Del Mar to install a version of Polytrack without an ingredient called “jelly cable.”
The substance is a waste product imported from China — chopped-up, lubricant-coated plastic previously used to insulate stripped copper wire. It was used in Polytrack turf installed at Chicago’s Arlington Park and at Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky, where officials call the racing surface “outstanding.”
Arlington’s racing deaths declined from 14 in 2006 on a dirt surface to three racing on Polytrack, a track spokesman said.
But at Del Mar — where, as its famous advertising slogan declares, “the turf meets the surf” — concerns about copper contaminants fouling the shoreline arose after tests detected “higher levels of copper” in track water runoff.
Without the jelly cable, Del Mar’s new surface reportedly became “loose” and “soupy” in the warmer afternoon hours, forcing eleventh-hour repairs.
A waste product from China … how my worlds collide.
Del Mar is special because of its history (Bing Crosby founded it) and its beauty (it’s just north of San Diego, and the grandstand is a lovely Mission style), but last year it was a disaster for the horses, with 19 dying as a result of injuries. No ever could really figure out why last year was so bad.
I sure hope the new track helps.
Oh yeah, that me, with Barbaro’s jockey, Edgar Prado. Last February in Florida, at Gulfstream Park. I use every pathetic excuse to show off this picture, I admit it.
I wonder where they’re getting the discarded wire insulation from? ( I know - from China - but I mean more specifically, from what process?)
I used to work in a lab where I built test splices in telephone cable, and I stripped my fair share of wire. It’s a process that involves closing a stripping tool around the wire and pulling away the insulation. I would absolutely believe that small shavings of copper come along with it. Probably unavoidable.
But I only stripped short lengths to expose bare wire for good connections. I’m going to guess (this is PURELY a guess, but it makes sense in my mind) that the Chinese are using their cheap labor force to strip copper wires so that they can reclaim the copper (which has gone WAY up in price).
On that basis alone I hate the idea because once again the Chinese are taking advantage of their “cheap” labor force to make a buck (if my guess is true, that is).
As to the material itself - I gotta think it’s the grease/jelly in the cable itself that helps the track material. So why don’t they just go to the cable manufacturing company (Anaconda is one name I remember) and get the actual grease/jelly that they pack into the cable that they make and see how THAT works?
Comment by The OTHER Pat — July 18, 2007 @ 4:40 pm