Track surface
The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are:
- Turf, the most common track surface in Europe
- Dirt, the most common track surface in the US
- Artificial or Synthetic, the collective term for a number of proprietary man-made surfaces in use at a number of locations around the world.
Synthetic surfaces
Synthetic surfaces allow racing to take place in bad weather conditions, when it may otherwise be cancelled, and for this reason are sometimes referred to as All Weather surfaces. Manufacturers of synthetic racetrack surface materials promote the fact that synthetic tracks have drainage attributes that are better than natural surfaces.There is also evidence that synthetic surfaces are significantly safer than dirt in terms of equine breakdowns, though there are many variables that come into play. The statistics for North America in 2015 showed 1.18 fatalities per 1,000 starts on synthetic surfaces, 1.22 on grass courses, and 1.78 on dirt tracks. The breakdown rates were down for each of the surfaces compared to 2014.
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.
The first synthetic surface to replace dirt in the United States was installed at The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington, Pennsylvania in 1963. This surface, called Tartan, was found to be unsatisfactory and removed and replaced with a traditional limestone surface in 1975.
| Name | Manufacturer | Country | Description | Installations |
| Cushion Track | Equestrian Surfaces |  | Sand, synthetic fibers, elastic fiber coated with wax. The footing is approximately seven inches deep, followed by a geotextile membrane/tarmac. | Santa Anita Park Hollywood Park Courbold Park, Sunshine Coast Toowoomba, Queensland Klampenborg, Denmark Taby Galopp, Sweden Al Khor Horse Breeders Park, Qatar |
| Fibresand | Mansfield Sand Company | | Sand particles and polypropylene fibres. | Southwell |
| Polytrack | Martin Collins Enterprises | | A mixture of silica sand, recycled synthetic fibers and recycled rubber/pvc. In cold climates, the mixture may also include jelly cable. The entire mixture is coated with wax. | Lingfield Park Kempton Park Chelmsford City Dundalk Chantilly Marseille-Vivaux Pau Kranji, Mijas Veliefendi Turfway Park Arlington Park Del Mar Racetrack Keeneland Race Course Pakenham Racecourse, VIC Cagnes Sur Mer Racecourse Deauville-La Touques Racecourse Gokdere & Bedew Racecourses in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan Fairview Racecourse Greyville, Durban South Africa |
| Pro-Ride | Pro-Ride Racing Australia Pty Ltd |  | 6 inches of footing on top of a 4-inch IMC layer on top of a drainage system. | Flemington Santa Anita Rosehill Racecourse, NSW Warwick Farm Racecourse, NSW |
| Tapeta | Michael Dickinson, Inc. |  | 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. | Spreyton Golden Gate Fields Albany, California Berkeley, CA Presque Isle Downs Wolverhampton Newcastle Woodbine Dubaï Racecourse Meydan |
| Visco-Ride | | Sand and fibre coated in wax | Flemington, Victoria Cranbourne Racecourse, Victoria Warwick Farm Racecourse, New South Wales Lyon La Soie Pornichet | |
| EquiPolitrek | Visteks Ltd |  | A mixture of silica sand, recycled synthetic fibers and chopped geotextile. The surface keeps the exploitation characteristics in a wide temperature range. The entire mixture is coated with wax. | Akbuzat Hippodrome, Ufa international sport-horses hippodrome, Kazan |