Tapeta

When it comes to breakdowns, the Tapeta surface at Woodbine isn't perfect. But it might be as close to perfect as any surface on the continent. While horses throughout North America broke down on the dirt at a rate of 1.44 per 1,000 starts in 2022, the rate of breakdowns over the synthetic surface at Woodbine was 0.42. This year, after about 4,500 starts over Tapeta there have been only two fatalities during races. Also, there have been about 14,000 published workouts over Woodbine's synthetic tracks and only two fatalities...

Mark Casse may have made more starts over dirt and synthetic surfaces combined than any other trainer in history-over 5,000 starts on synthetic and 5,000 on dirt in the past 15 years alone. He estimates that he has sent horses out to gallop, breeze, or race over a synthetic surface 150,000 times in the past 10 years.  With a base at Woodbine, where they race and train over a Tapeta surface which sports one of the lowest instances of catastrophic injuries in North America, Casse offered to sit down with...

After reading the various commentaries over recent days by Ambassador Mack and Bill Finley and the Letters to the TDN Editor on the synthetics debate, I heard Bill say during this week's TDN Writer's Room that we could reduce fatalities by the hundreds with a surface shift. A close analysis shows the numbers are much greater than that. First a step back. The industry needs a revamp in the way we present this discussion to the public at large and those opponents who would have our "social license" go the...

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....

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has installed a Tapeta Footings synthetic surface at Belmont's pony track, located just to the northeast of Belmont's training track. The quarter-mile pony track, which is used mostly for jogging horses, will be open seven days a week from 5:30-10:30 a.m. beginning Tuesday, Dec. 6. "Modern synthetic surfaces have a wide range of applications for horsemen and track operators alike, and we look forward to working with the product every day and in all seasons at Belmont Park," said Glen Kozak, NYRA Senior...

Throughout the nation, the horse racing industry is under both increased scrutiny and pressure to reduce the number of equine fatalities and breakdowns. While progress has been made at many tracks, in recent years, i.e. Turfway, Woodbine, Golden Gate, and Gulfstream, there is less of a tolerance than ever for equine injuries and fatalities, as doping scandals have marred our most cherished events and as advocates and animal rights groups such as PETA have gained momentum. Horse racing is under real pressure to enhance safety, with many critics seeking to...

'TDN Rising Star' Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown), three-for-three on turf to start her career, will try all-weather racing for the first time Saturday at Woodbine, going seven furlongs on the Tapeta in the GII Bessarabian S. A sharp 3 3/4-length frontrunning winner debuting on the local turf last August to earn her 'Rising Star' badge, the Chuck Fipke homebred quickly backed up that distinction with a score in the GI Natalma S. The chestnut was sidelined for nearly a year after that, however, before returning with an optional claiming success in...

In the news plenty recently for cracking down on clenbuterol violations with out-of-competition testing, suspending a jockey over a suspected betting coup and overseeing the successful installation of a third, synthetic surface at Gulfsteam Park, 1/ST Racing's Chief Operations Officer Aidan Butler is making a name for himself in the industry as a proactive, no-nonsense executive. Wednesday, he joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss all of those recent stories, the improved safety record at Santa Anita, long-term plans...

1/ST Racing COO Aidan Butler joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss Gulfstream's new Tapeta track and the recent Clenbuterol crackdown, plus track safety at Santa Anita.

The All-Weather Championships Finals Day will be held at Newcastle for the first time on Good Friday, Apr. 15, 2022. Started by the Arena Racing Company in 2013, the All-Weather Championships are now in its ninth season which begins on Tuesday, Oct. 19. There are six All-Weather Championships races, and the Listed Coral Burradon S. carded for Good Friday with total prizemoney on offer over £1 million. Lingfield, which previously hosted the meeting, will instead hold the new £395,000 All-Weather Vase that same day. The All-Weather Vase card, featuring six...

Surface tensions in our business have run pretty deep in recent years, nowhere more so than at Santa Anita. After a failed revolution, with a synthetic track, they eventually backed into a terrifying breakdowns crisis. Racing in California still has its problems, of course, not least the cloud currently over its premier barn--which, after that curious hesitation last week, instead gives its most controversial resident a home game Saturday in the GI Awesome Again S. But given our community's fury right now with another racetrack proprietor, who this week cashed...

A new era began Thursday at Gulfstream when the 4-year-old claimer Emoji Guy (Khozan) won the opening race on the card, the first to be run over the newly installed Tapeta track. It was the first of four races on the day run on the synthetic surface. As is the case with all of the synthetic races, the first was largely uneventful. Trained by Kathleen O'Connell and ridden by Edwin Gonzalez, Emoji Guy was fifth early before launching a bid nearing the turn. He made the lead in mid-stretch and...