Singapore and Dubai give thumbs up to synthetics
POLYTRACK, the invention of UK-based Martin Collins, has come up trumps in Singapore, executive racing director Soong Tze Ming revealed on Tuesday.
Synthetic surfaces came under scrutiny in a debate on racecourse facilities and track technologies at the Asian Racing Conference.
The Singapore Turf Club installed a Polytrack racing circuit two seasons ago, and "the proven option" had already proved its worth, Soong said.
He explained: "The statistics show that it is providing more competitive racing, and there has been a significant reduction in injuries to horses, both in racing and training."
Singapore's decision was taken as a means of actively improving the quality of racing, Soong said, and punters had been quick to accept the change.
He explained: "Inevitably there was a buy-in period, when people were not sure about the form, but then they realised the form was very similar to turf and turnover has crept back up, so that now there is very little difference between betting on turf and Poytrack, whereas betting was 20 per cent lower on dirt previously."
The broader initiative to attract new customers also includes improving betting returns with variable take-outs, encouraging new ways to bet and refurbishing Kranji's grandstand facilities to compete against the comfort offered by casinos.
A similar theme emerged from Dubai, whose Racing Club chief executive Frank Gabriel reported that the Tapeta all-weather surface at Meydan, which replaced Nad Al Sheba's dirt track, had come through the Dubai Carnival and World Cup programme with flying colours.
He said: "We wanted competitive racing and therefore decided on a synthetic surface, and we chose Tapeta because we had seenit perform well at Al Quoz and on our training track."
Gabriel highlighted the Golden Shaheen as proof that the choice was correct.
He explained: "The race, which had favoured North American horses because it was run on dirt, was struggling as a Group 1. But last month it drew runners from seven countries, with an average rating of 116. The change in surface benefited all countries competing."
Gabriel praised Tapeta as "a safe and more viable surface," but added: "You have to work very hard on maintenance, because there is no doubt that the weather does change the surface.
"The key is to be consistent between the surface that the horses train on in the morning and the one they race on in the evening."
Proper maintenance was also highlighted by Alex Waldrop, president of America's National Thoroughbred Racing Association, who said: "One of the misunderstandings about synthetic tracks was that they would be lower maintenance. But clearly this is crucial, including watering in high temperatures."
Debate continues in the US about the decision by California to force a switch from dirt to synthetic surfaces, but Waldrop said the biggest controversy was disagreement among fans.
"Casual fans want synthetic surfaces for safety reasons," he explained, "but our core fans want consistency of form, which they believe they get from dirt. This has a long way to go before it shakes out."
However, Waldrop suggested that the argument would be about a return to traditional US dirt, not whether to extend synthetic surfaces.
He said; "I don't see any other states mandating for synthetic surfaces, and I wouldn't be surprised if California allowed a track to go back to dirt.
"Synthetics are stymied by cost, and after the recession, there's not the same urgency to install them. Fans are now saying, ‘Make dirt safer.'"
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