Gulfstream Park photo by Eclipse Sportswire

As synthetic racing surfaces become less common, there are still valuable handicapping lessons that can be culled from a horse’s experiences on artificial ground.

Consider the case of Put It Forward in the sixth race at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 26. It was a starter optional claiming race, making it open to horses that were running for either a $16,000 claiming tag or the starter allowance condition that was open to horses that had raced for a $12,000 claiming tag or less.

Put It Forward had raced under the same conditions in his previous race, just eight days earlier on Dec. 18 at Gulfstream. In that race, he got off to a poor start after hitting the gate at the break, but managed to rally in the stretch and grab third in a promising effort.

There were a couple of major differences, though, in the two races.

The race on the 18th was at six furlongs, while Put It Forward was stretching out to a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile distance on the Dec. 26.

Even more importantly, Put It Forward was switching from dirt to turf.

Since Put If Forward had never raced on turf, he was, on one level, a mystery horse in the field of 13. Yet there was significant evidence that Put It Forward would relish the switch.

PUT IT FORWARD PAST PERFORMANCES

While it’s not an exact science, horses that handle a synthetic surface generally can handle turf. Keeping that in mind, it was highly intriguing to peruse Put It Forward’s past performances and find that he had started six times on a synthetic surface and owned four wins and a second.

With a record like that, it was reasonable to assume Put It Forward was capable of turning in a solid effort in his turf debut. Helping matters was his odds of 5-1, creating an opportunity for value while gambling on Put It Forward’s chances of transferring his stellar form on a synthetic surface to Gulfstream’s turf course.

And so, on Dec. 26, while many Americans were bringing back unsightly, overly bulky sweaters to their nearby shopping mall, those handicappers willing to gamble on the correlation between artificial surfaces and turf were treated to a belated Christmas present — a $13.60 payoff — when Put It Forward not only showed a fondness for turf, but some determination as well while prevailing in a lively stretch duel and triumphing by a neck.

THE LESSON: Even if a horse has not raced on turf, its races on synthetic surfaces could give off some loud hints about its ability to handle grass.