enlarge 2007 Press Herald file

Mick Peterson, an engineering professor at UMaine, is studying the use of synthetic tracks for horse racing and the role they play in the welfare of horses.

THE PREAKNESS

WHEN: 6:15 p.m. today

WHERE: Pimlico, Baltimore

FAVORITE: Big Brown, 1-2

TELEVISION: Channel 6

Professor Mick Peterson was at a restaurant in Orono on May 2 watching the Kentucky Derby on the big screen with his kids when Eight Belles finished second, capping an inspiring race for the only filly in the field.

Moments later the horse broke both front ankles and had to be euthanized. Peterson knew his phone would soon begin to ring off the hook.

Peterson is an engineering professor at the University of Maine and a national expert on thoroughbred racetracks. He studies the subtle variations in synthetic and dirt tracks that can end a thoroughbred's career.

Much like Barbaro's injury in the 2006 Preakness, the Eight Belles incident has again heightened the debate over whether track surfaces play a role in catastrophic injuries. The filly's death brings Peterson's work into the spotlight entering today's Preakness Stakes -- the second leg of the sport's Triple Crown.

"I hate to speculate about one horse or one jockey," Peterson said of Eight Belles. "It has to do with genetics. It has to do with training protocols. Surface is one piece of it.

"That's the challenge in racing as a whole. Finding out what things matter and which don't."

Peterson has been traveling the country for the past several years with a mechanical hoof that mimics the impact of a horse on a track. He gathers data, seeking to create a set of standards and testing protocols that can be used by maintenance crews at every track.

In the past few years, there has been an explosion of synthetic surfaces at tracks around the country. The surfaces are manufactured by a number of companies and generally made of a similar combination of wax, fiber and rubber. Their popularity is linked to their consistency, which appears to lessen the number of injuries to a horse.

California law mandated all of its tracks be synthetic by 2008, and Kentucky's Keeneland and Toronto's Woodbine are among other high-profile tracks with synthetic surfaces.

Peterson said the data is beginning to show that synthetic turf is better for thoroughbreds, but that theory won't be ironclad for another year or so, until more data can be gathered.

"I can tell you that initial statistics show a 25 percent reduction in catastrophic injuries since going to synthetic," said Peterson. "It shows a reduction from two to 1.5 catastrophic injuries per 1,000 starts. That's pretty doggone important."

Eight Belles had a history of racing on several types of surfaces; Churchill Downs, site of the Kentucky Derby, has a dirt track.

The horse's death raised questions about many factors within the industry: breeding problems, doping issues, and an emphasis on training for speed over stamina. The horse's jockey, 20-year-old Gabriel Saez, was also initially criticized for excessive whipping. The horse's trainer adamantly defended him.

Peterson said his opinion on a particular situation like Eight Belles is less valuable than it might seem.

"Avoiding the next problem is my gig. Not figuring out the last one," said Peterson.

Pimlico, the site of the Preakness in Baltimore, is also a dirt track, as is Belmont Park (N.Y.), where the final leg of the Triple Crown will be raced June 7.

Ed Bowen, president of the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, said the death of Eight Belles has reinforced the importance of the work being done by Peterson and others.

Peterson and his colleague, Dr. Wayne McIlwraith of Colorado State University, were awarded a grant last month by the club to find out whether some simpler testing protocols used at various tracks correlate with the long-term work Peterson has been doing.

The club announced May 8, less than a week after the Kentucky Derby, that it had established a Thoroughbred Safety Committee that will further examine problems in the industry. Peterson is a member of the club's Racing Surfaces committee of the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit that...