EQUINE WELFARE
FLEMINGTON FACILITIES SET THE STANDARD FOR TRAINING OF RACEHORSES BY MICHAEL MANLEY Flemington has cemented its position as one of Australia’s premier training centres with its new synthetic training track, according to leading trainers and officials. Flemington’s track manager Liam O’Keeffe said the opening of the new track, called Gallop Track, continued the VRC’s commitment to its trainers to provide the best possible training surfaces for their horses. He said it has given the 20 trainers based at Flemington another exceptional track option to work the 600 horses trained there. O’Keeffe said he expected that trainers would love the Gallop Track surface as it represented the latest chapter in the evolution and improvement of synthetic tracks. O’Keeffe explained the make-up of the surfacewas different to other synthetic tracks and would lead to a more consistent and safe surface year-round for horses to gallop on. “It’s a synthetic surface made up of sand and emulsions, which is an oily, wax type material that binds the material together. There are some fibres in that sand that soften the footing,” O’Keeffe said. High-quality sand sourced from a You Yangs quarry is being used, which is another one of the improvements. “It’s a beautifully coloured sand and it will give a nice cushiony surface for the horses to gallop on.” The new Gallop Track, which opened on 25 August, has replaced the old Pro- Ride track. O’Keeffe said over its 11 years the Pro-Ride track had done a great job, withstanding more than 200,000 gallops, but during that time the surface particles had become finer and the fibre had worn away. O’Keeffe said one of the advantages of the synthetic track was that it gave horses consistent footing. “That’s what the synthetic surface provides underneath with the fibre and the oil and the wax. It also allows a high volume of workload to be performed on the track.”
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