Del Mar Returns to Dirt

[TJ]

Everyone's getting into the act:>) TJ
http://www.drf.com/news/del-mar-will-in ... anta-anita

[ct2346]

I notice that Michael Dickinson has put his farm up for sale. With Meydan, SA, and Del Mar and KEE reverting (yes I realize these are all not Tapeta) I wonder if there is a correlation.

[TJ]

I notice that Michael Dickinson has put his farm up for sale. With Meydan, SA, and Del Mar and KEE reverting (yes I realize these are all not Tapeta) I wonder if there is a correlation.

Hi ct,
You could be right...he turned in his trainers license at the end of 2007 to further his Tapeta business. He did OK, selling the footing to Meydan and that alone had to be worth his effort. With racing at major tracks on both sides of the pond, giving up on the synthetic track experiment and your stating his farm is up for sale, maybe he's looking to other racing endeavors or possibly retirement? TJ

[wilf]

The only tracks running on Tapeta are Golden Gate and Presque Isle where Michael was very hands on in making sure the surface was properly maintained. If there is another track with his formula of material then I don't know it. I have had a lot of luck on Tapeta and consider it a very safe surface with minimal injury rates. One thing I will add though is that I prefer to train on dirt and just ship in to run or failing that keep an eye on your horses and if they start to get sore behind then ease off training and run them on dirt, mix it up a little. I am surprised at the Del Mar move as the place had an awful breakdown rate on dirt.

[TJ]

The only tracks running on Tapeta are Golden Gate and Presque Isle where Michael was very hands on in making sure the surface was properly maintained. If there is another track with his formula of material then I don't know it. I have had a lot of luck on Tapeta and consider it a very safe surface with minimal injury rates. One thing I will add though is that I prefer to train on dirt and just ship in to run or failing that keep an eye on your horses and if they start to get sore behind then ease off training and run them on dirt, mix it up a little. I am surprised at the Del Mar move as the place had an awful breakdown rate on dirt.

Hi Wilf,
The two tracks you mentioned are the only two that use the Tapeta footing in America and of course Dickinson's farm. Meydan Racecourse in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) is the other which used Tapeta. It came under criticism this year during the Dubai World Cup, as a result Meydan is also returning to dirt. I doubt the return to dirt had anything to do with safety issues...just a return to a single common racing surface. The issue at Meydan was that only certain horses could handle the surface successfully. This kept many US horses from joining in the Dubai World Cup. Though when it was run on a dirt course at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse many US participants showed up. Same could be said for the return to dirt at Keeneland. Done so their Derby prep races will return to the same surface as the Kentucky Derby they are used for.
Dickinson a world class trainer, was always interested in a safer racing surface for the good of the horse. He was training over the Tapeta surface long before he decided to market it worldwide. When he would ship in to run you would always see him walking the track and scrutinize the racing surface. This was very important to him and the reason why he gave up training, because he did oversee these installations and made sure his tracks were properly maintained. TJ

[ct2346]

Fair Hill is also Tapeta. Makes me wonder about the sensibility of it remaining as Tapeta if all other racecourses are going to swap out. It does prove to be a good training surface for turf horses so perhaps it can continue in that way.

[TJ]

Fair Hill is also Tapeta. Makes me wonder about the sensibility of it remaining as Tapeta if all other racecourses are going to swap out. It does prove to be a good training surface for turf horses so perhaps it can continue in that way.

Hi ct,
Fair Hill has it all, a turf course as well as the 7/8ths Tapeta surface inside a 1 mile dirt track. TJ