Tapeta Footings

Edited Press Release Officials at Woodbine Entertainment have expressed confidence in the all-weather track at Woodbine despite recent problems with the surface resulting in the deaths of multiple horses, claiming that the track is in 'optimal condition for safe training and racing' with only a handful of live dates left in the 2024 season. In a release issued Thursday morning, the track said that, since the cancellation of the final two races on Nov. 9 and the scrapping of the Nov. 10 program in the interest of equine safety, 'Woodbine...

Longtime track superintendent Juan Meza will be retained by Woodbine Entertainment as a Racing Surfaces Consultant, the track said on Monday. Meza served as the track superintendent at Golden Gate Fields for over two decades up until the track ceased operations this past June. Like Woodbine, Golden Gate Fields held racing on a Tapeta (all-weather) racing surface, installing the synthetic track in 2007. Meza's brings an extensive knowledge in Tapeta to Woodbine and has worked closely alongside the surface manufacturer (Tapeta Footings). "The safety and well-being of both our equine...

Edited Press Release Santa Anita Park has opened its all-new synthetic Tapeta inner training track manufactured by Maryland-based Tapeta Footings, Inc., effective Saturday morning. Following the Breeders' Cup, the 'Great Race Place' embarked upon an $8 million project to provide horsemen with a state-of-the-art all-weather surface that will complement its one-mile natural dirt main track and serve as a safe and viable component in the conditioning of Thoroughbreds on a year 'round basis. "At Tapeta, our aim is to maintain the surface so that we have a soft cushion below and...

As part of a larger $32 million improvement plan, Santa Anita's training track should re-open in mid-January after it was closed for construction Nov. 12, as it changes from a sand-based surface to an all-weather synthetic one, the track said in a release Friday afternoon. Constructed by Tapeta Footings, the new surface is designed to improve safety while also helping to limit weather-related training disruptions. "The main thing is having synthetic will alleviate a complete stoppage of training because of weather," said Jason Egan, Santa Anita Director of Racing and...

The University of Louisville Equine Industry Program has named Michael Dickinson the 33rd recipient of the John W. Galbreath Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship in the Equine Industry. In addition to training, Dickinson is also known for developing Tapeta Footings, the synthetic surface widely utilized for both racing and training. Tapeta has been installed at Turfway Park in Kentucky and at Gulfstream Park in Florida, Golden Gate Fields in California and Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania, as well as facilities in Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom....

Southwell Racecourse's fibresand surface will be replaced by Tapeta this spring and the project will be completed by the summer of 2021, the Arena Racing Company announced on Monday. A planning application was submitted for the new surface because the fibresand has come to the end of its operational life. Fibresand was first laid down in 1989, the start of all-weather racing at the Nottinghamshire venue. Tapeta, developed by Michael Dickinson and Joan Wakefield of Tapeta Footings, has already been laid down at Wolverhampton and Newcastle-also ARC courses-since 2014 and...

Churchill Downs Incorporated plans to invest $5.6 million to replace the existing track at Turfway Park with a new Tapeta synthetic track through an agreement with Tapeta Footings, Inc., CDI announced Tuesday. The removal of Turfway's existing Polytrack and installation of the new Tapeta synthetic track will take place immediately following the close of Turfway's Winter/Spring Meet Mar. 28 and is expected to be ready for the 2020 Holiday Meet beginning Dec. 2. CDI owns and operates three of the four synthetic tracks in the United States and Turfway will...

When it comes to synthetic racing surfaces, Michael Dickinson is obviously biased. He is the inventor of Tapeta Footings, now recognized as the leading synthetic surface manufacturer in North America, if not the world. If several American racetracks were to do away with dirt racing and replace it with synthetic tracks, Dickinson would stand to make a lot of money. Yet, that doesn't mean that Dickinson, who now operates Tapeta Footings with his wife Joan Wakefield, does not have the statistics to back up how safe his tracks are when...