Synthetic racetrack surfaces for horse racing
A synthetic racetrack surface is a kind of surface substance that replaces grass, dirt or sand as the racing surface on a horse racing track. Manufacturers of synthetic racetrack surface materials promote the fact that synthetic tracks have drainage attributes that are better than natural surfaces. In other situations such as cold weather, these surfaces allow racing to be continued when it might otherwise be cancelled.
Synthetic tracks are also used in large horse-training centres to allow trainers to train their horses even in inclement weather conditions.
History
The first synthetic surface used for thoroughbred racing was Tropical Park's Tartan turf, a synthetic surface similar to Astroturf installed in 1966. Tartan turf was never a success with horsemen.[1]
The first synthetic surface to replace dirt in the United States was installed at The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington, PA in 1963. This surface, called Tartan, was found to be unsatisfactory and removed and replaced with a traditional limestone surface in 1975.
Current types of synthetic surface products
Cushion Track
Installer: Equestrian Surfaces
Origin: United Kingdom
Description of surface: Sand, synthetic fibers, elastic fiber, and granulated rubber coated with wax. The footing is approximately nine inches deep, followed by a geotextile membrane.[2]
Installations: Santa Anita Park (removed), Hollywood Park (shut down), Courbold Park (Sunshine Coast) & Toowoomba QLD.Toowoomba has converted 1/2 the synthetic track into turf and have the all weather track as a training track, Klampenborg Racetrack (Denmark), Taby Galopp (Sweden)
Fibresand
Installer: Mansfield Sand Company
Origin: United Kingdom
Description of surface: Sand particles and polypropylene fibres.[3]
Installations: Southwell Racecourse[4]
Polytrack
Installer: Martin Collins Enterprises
www.martincollins.com
Origin: United Kingdom
Description of surface: A mixture of silica sand, recycled synthetic fibers (carpet & spandex) and recycled rubber/pvc. In cold climates, the mixture may also include jelly cable (plastic insulation from copper phone wire). The entire mixture is coated with wax.
Installations: Lingfield Park, Kempton Park, Great Leighs, Dundalk, Chantilly, Marseille-Vivaux, Pau (CLOPF), Kranji, Mijas(CLOPF), Veliefendi, Turfway Park, Woodbine, Arlington Park, Del Mar Racetrack (replaced), Keeneland Race Course (replaced), Pakenham Racecourse, VIC, Cagnes Sur Mer Racecourse, Deauville-Touques Racecourse, Gokdere & Bedew Racecourses in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Fairview Racecourse & Greyville, Durban South Africa.
Pro-Ride
Installer: Pro-Ride Racing Australia Pty Ltd
Origin: Australia
Description of surface: 6 Inches of footing (Sand, Nylon fibres, Spandex fibres coated in a Polymeric Binder) on top of a 4 inch IMC Layer (Sand & Nylon fibres) on top of a drainage system.[5]
Installations: Flemington Racecourse VIC, Santa Anita (removed), Rosehill Racecourse NSW & Warwick Farm Racecourse NSW.[6]
Tapeta
Installer: Michael Dickinson, Inc.
Origin: USA
Description of surface: Sand, fibre, rubber and wax makes up the top 4-7 inches of the racing surface, installed on top of either porous asphalt or a geotextile membrane.[7]
Installations: Golden Gate Fields, Albany, California/Berkeley, CA, USA; Presque Isle Downs, Erie, Pennsylvania; Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
Visco-Ride
Origin: Australia
Description of surface: Sand and fibre coated in Wax.
Installations: Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Victoria (removed); Cranbourne Racecourse, Cranbourne, Victoria (removed); Warwick Farm Racecourse, Warwick Farm, New South Wales (removed)
RashitTrack
Installer: CJSC HC Visteks
Origin: Russian Federation
Description of surface: A mixture of silica sand, recycled synthetic fibers (carpet & spandex) and chopped geotextile. The surface keeps the exploitation characteristics in a wide temperature range (from -40 up to +65 оС). The entire mixture is coated with wax.[8]
Installations: Akbuzat Hippodrome, Ufa & international sport-horses hippodrome, Kazan.
References
- ↑ http://horseracing.about.com/library/bltropical.htm Short history of Tropical Park by Hale, Ron (1997)] (retrieved May 2, 2008 from about.com)
- ↑ http://www.equestriansurfaces.co.uk/surfaces/cushion-track-premier.html
- ↑ http://www.mansfield-sand.co.uk/products/equestrian/fibresand/
- ↑ "natural turf pitch, fibre-reinforced rootzone". Mansfield-sand.co.uk. 2010-06-22. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
- ↑ http://www.prorideracing.com/pro-ride-product-details Unique 2-Phase Cushioning & Wax-free polymeric binder
- ↑ http://www.prorideracing.com/tracks/
- ↑ http://www.tapetafootings.com/system/system.html
- ↑ http://allweatherequestriansurface.com/ and http://rashittrack.com/
External links
- http://www.equestriansurfaces.co.uk/
- http://www.martincollins.com/
- http://www.prorideracing.com
- http://www.tapetafootings.com/
- http://www.viscoride.com.au/
- http://www.euviteks.ru/ and http://www.rashittrack.com/