Del Mar halts training to do track maintenance

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Del Mar halted training Thursday morning on its Polytrack over safety concerns after an outrider noticed unevenness on a small portion in the stretch, track President Craig Fravel said.

In response, Fravel said maintenance work that was scheduled for Monday will be accelerated to help with mixing of the synthetic surface.

‘There’s nothing wrong with the track,’ Fravel said.

He said the track will be ready to run for Thursday’s afternoon races.

There has been much focus on the Polytrack surface. Last year, there were six catastrophic injuries in a 10-day period in the opening weeks of the Del Mar meeting. Wednesday’s opening day had no incidents involving the Polytrack.

Del Mar hired a new track superintendent, Richard Tedesco, this year.

-- Eric Sondheimer