CUSHION TRACK TAKES SOME HEAT

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Cushion Track meeting at Toowoomba last Friday brought some interesting aspects of the track into play. Most notable of all was the early morning decision to water the racing surface once the track temperature reached or exceeded forty-five degrees.

As Toowoomba sweltered in the mid-thirties that afternoon, race-goers witnessed the dual routine of the track being watered between each of the early races on the card and Chief Steward Wade Birch going out to confirm the track temperature before each race took place.

The water-truck completed a circuit of the track on each occasion with the watering of the track bringing the surface temperature back under the forty-five degree benchmark. The temperature was substantially higher prior to each load of water being sprayed onto the track.

The track was well-managed throughout the day and the meeting passed without any incident or complaint.

But what is the real significance of the higher temperature to the racing surface?

Paul Harper, who is a director of Equestrian Surfaces, the installers of the Cushion Track, was happy to give HRO the answer to that question while at the same time providing some background to the brief given to his company for the installation of the track at Toowoomba, as well as some insight into the subtle differences between the Toowoomba surface and that of the other Cushion Track at Coloundra.

“I developed this track specifically for twilight racing and for training in the early morning,” explained Harper. “I could have made it when it is fantastic for racing in this heat but then, when it comes to the morning, it becomes very stiff and hard and very difficult for us to maintain it ... and there would be more risk of injuries in training.

“We didn’t realise we would be racing in the day here ... but when you do race in the day obviously you are going to have a bit more kick-back ... a bit more penetration of the hoof - that’s all!

“If you get more heat all you will get is more penetration of the hoof ... going slightly further into the surface ... which will give more kick-back, but the beauty of this surface is that it is still a nice, firm cushion mat underneath, and that’s really where your true surface is. That’s why it remains a consistent surface.

“The heat will only penetrate into it a couple of inches and, as I say, the only effect it will have, there will be a bit more penetration of the hoof and slightly slower times. In these circumstances all we have to do is water the track between races and it cools it down. That’s all we have to do.

“In other countries like America and Singapore where they can have high temperatures, they do water, so this is not something new.

“This profile of this track (at Toowoomba) compared to track at the Sunshine Coast is slightly different. The Sunshine Coast is a slightly different wax ... it is a slightly higher temperature wax ... but it doesn’t get the extreme colder temperatures in the winter, which it does here. If you used the same wax as the Sunshine Coast here, it would have been very hard and stiff in the morning.

“You know, it just has to be a fine balance to suit the climate really. It’s got to suit the conditions and it is very difficult to make the track perfect for both sets of conditions because of the extremes we do get. I mean, you have to deal with the extreme heat we are getting now and I’ve been here in the winter when the temperature has been down to minus five degrees, so it is not easy.

“Water was the problem for a turf track. This track, when used under the conditions it was built for, doesn’t need any water. It only needs water if they want to race in the middle of the day and it is summer. Racing in the winter months, it won’t need any water. That’s the difference.”

Harper was also able to confirm that the allocation of a third Cushion Track venue in Queensland is still pending.

“I think they are just waiting. The original contract (between Equestrian Surfaces and Queensland Racing Ltd) was for three tracks,” confirmed Harper. “We are just waiting for Queensland Racing to say where the next one will be.”

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