Speaking of which-- I ran into the current Belmont track superintendent a few days before the Belmont at a function, I had not spoken to him before. He told me cushion depth on Belmont day would be 4 1/2 inches, and confirmed what Jerry Porcelli had told me a few yeaqrs ago (\"Are Racehorses Getting Faster\", Archives section this site), that it was 2 3/4 when Secretariat ran, and that there was a lot more sand in it now, which also makes it slower.
I would also note that 4 1/2 is 1/2 inch deeper than it was when we first posted my piece (2003). My rough calculation at the time was that 1/2 inch was worth 1 to 2 seconds at 6f, but I would love to have a year\'s worth of cushion depths to compare to variants.
