Photo-finish row: racecourses and BHA need to get the basics right

There was no mirror image to help decide who won this contest at Market RasenCredit: RaceTech

The BHA's manual which sets out the ideal facilities a racecourse should provide is impressively detailed in its specifications.

Any new racecourse or existing track wanting to upgrade should, for example, provide a winning post made of 15cm x 7.5cm steel channel or timber painted 'matt vinyl emulsion pale duck egg blue', apart from the top 30cm, which should be painted white

The winning post not only marks the finish, the manual says, but is also used to support the photo-finish mirror which must 'cover the full width of the course for the mirror camera'.

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Bill BarberIndustry editor

Published on 25 July 2018inComment

Last updated 18:33, 5 August 2018

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