We haven't quite weathered the storm at Santa Anita

US Racing / Nick Shiambouros / 01 February 2008 / Leave a Comment

Nick Shiambouros has the inside track on the continuing problems with the artificial surface at Santa Anita in his Stateside update

When I heard that, due to inclement weather, repairs to the track surface at Santa Anita would spill over in to next week I decided to try and find out what Equestrian Surfaces had to say about the situation and whether they could shed any light as to what has caused these problems.

Equestrian Surfaces, according to Philip Bond, supply the technology to Cushion Track Footings LLC who laid down the track for Santa Anita. Bond is the Overseas business manager and he told me on Thursday that one of the reasons the track wont drain is that there is a problem with the course itself and not the Cushion Track.

Philip Bond was quite evasive when I pushed him in to a specific area and he would not say much. After banking about $5.1m, by his own admission, there is not a whole lot to say I suppose. I got the impression that his relationship with Ron Charles, the president of Santa Anita, was strained to say the least, but he was keen to sing the praises of Hollywood Park as a huge success.

From my experience, in these situations everyone blames each other and we will have to wait until the end of next week to see if Ian Pearse from Pro-Ride is successful with his binding mixture in an attempt to salvage the track.

After all that, the Sunshine Millions card did go ahead as planned and there were a few shocks on the card, notably Nashoba's Key who was turned over at odds-on in the Filly and Mare Turf by Quite A Bride; a mild upset. I am not sure if the favourite has retained her form of last year as she could not deliver a challenge in the lane.

In the Classic, Gotcha Gold was cooked on the front end and folded in the lane behind Go Between, ridden superbly by Garret Gomez. They went way too quickly up front so I will forgive Gotcha Gold for this defeat. On the subject of going out too quickly, Bob Black Jack broke the World record for the Sprint when running a truly unbelievable 1.06.53 for the six furlongs. All I can say is, "Wow!"

In the Sunshine Millions Turf at Gulfstream last weekend, Icy Atlantic never got into the race behind favourite War Monger, winning in what was a pleasing performance.

This weekend, Gulfstream Park features one of my favourite races of the year; The Don Handicap, and we could be witnessing a superstar in the making in Daheer in this Grade 1 event. I will be backing Daheer to win and I have already backed him ante-post for the Dubai World Cup in March at [11.0].

The same connections ran the great Invasor last year and I can't wait for this one. I may have to take odds-on for the son of Awesome Again but he has to win this well to feature for the Dubai race and I think he is fully up to the task against some very decent horses like Einstein and AP Arrow.

Over at Santa Anita on a wonderful card the Strub Stakes Grade 2 race features one of my favourite horses. Tiago did us a big favour last year in winning the Goodwood in great style, I shall be backing him for the win at around [3.3] and I may have an insurance bet on Air Commander who looks to be a threat.

Finally, I have some good news to report. A bronze statue of the great Barbaro is to be commissioned and will stand just outside the main entrance at Churchill Downs. Believe it or not, the late colt's owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson are still receiving letters from the public about what Barbaro meant to them. Simply put, he was one of the bravest horses I have ever seen in my life and I still think about him to this day. This statue will ensure his memory lives on for a long time to come.