Questions Abound (Well, for me Anyway) for Santa Anita and TSG

During this whole troubling spectacle - summarized and updated, story by story here by Jessica Chapel - I've had a devil of a time figuring out a lot of things. Leaving aside jokes about my lack of brain power please, here are some basic kind of questions that you may or may not be able to answer.

I've heard over and over again from people in power that "The Track is Safe!". This has been trumpeted a lot the past while, and it may well be true.

The experts like Mick Peterson are in charge, and they tell us its "safe". What I'd like to ask them is, what do you mean by safe? Is it that there are no glaring problems; no holes, base issues, slabs or otherwise bad material causing noticeable issues; is that the meaning of safe?

What I'd like to know, for instance, is if the just noticeable difference is wide as a chasm or pinpoint. Meaning, if Santa Anita dirt is a historical 2.51 deaths per thousand, would the experts, and their instruments know if it's now a 4.22 per 1000 or a 5.02 per thousand (doubly less safe) racetrack? No one has asked, that I have seen.

Speaking of fewer people asking questions, I'd like to know what happened to Jeremy Balan. It's none of my business what private businesses do with private employees, and this is not a reality show, but the now-apparently-unemployed recent Eclipse winner is gone. I can't help but wonder why, and if the reason is something that all of us who like the sport should find troubling, or not.

Sunday is my last day at BloodHorse. If you know anyone who might be able to use an award-winning turf writer, sports writer, or news reporter, please let me know.

— Jeremy Balan (@jeremybalan) March 15, 2019

I'd like to know how in Heaven's name PETA quotes made it into a press release from a huge racetrack. I sure hope it wasn't, "I'll put your name in it and you'll never bug us again right?" I find this confusing, and am pretty perplexed.

I'd like to know why the horse racing media haven't asked why these big spikes in dirt breakdowns never seem to happen on artificial surfaces.

I'd like know if there's a causal relationship between breakdowns and lasix use. If not, this new policy kind of feels like asking your plumber to perform your appendectomy.

If the track is safe as reported, and all's well with the new protocols (like the ones NYRA initiated years ago that seemed to work well), why wouldn't Santa Anita and TSG just wait this out? The randomness should die down, and hopefully all would be well.

Anyhow, those are my dumb questions. If you want to keep following the story, Jessica's micro-site is a pretty good resource.

Have a nice weekend everyone.