Boston’s WBUR: Dirt Vs. Synthetic Tracks - What's Best For Horse Racing?

Screenshot of LCB founder Matt Laslo's coverage of horse racing for WBUR, Boston NPR

“Today Matt Laslo reports on the dirt versus synthetics debate from the home of the Preakness.”

The Triple Crown events: the Kentucky Derby, Maryland’s Preakness and the Belmont Stakes in New York, are run on dirt tracks.

Some in the horse racing industry want to end that tradition and lay down potentially safer synthetic tracks.

But with grandstands increasingly empty, critics say track owners are putting profits over safety.

With the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby coming up on Saturday, we're taking a look this week at the horse racing industry in a series of stories produced for WEKU in Richmond, Kentucky. Today Matt Laslo reports on the dirt versus synthetics debate from the home of the Preakness.

This segment aired on May 2, 2012.

Matt Laslo

The LCB’s founder, veteran political correspondent Matt Laslo, has brought Washington, DC to life for millions (73+ million on last count) of listeners, viewers and readers. He’s reported for five Pulitzer Prize-winning news outlets, 60+ award-wining local NPR outlets, nonprofit newsrooms and national magazines. He also runs the popular interactive journalism startup Ask a Pol Politics — a Substack bestseller.

Laslo’s groundbreaking generative AI coverage has been cited in 13+ law reviews, think tanks and a fiery letter Sen. Elizabeth Warren letter penned to OpenAI founder Sam Altman. His data privacy reporting for WIRED is cited in 25+ law reviews — including Cornell, Duke and Harvard. His tech features are assigned reading at NYU, UNC Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins and DePaul. Laslo’s also cited as a government reform expert in 20+ (mostly) books, while his “war on drugs,” opioid epidemic and criminal justice reform features are quoted in 25 law reviews and books.

https://mattlaslo.com
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