O’Keeffe said injury rates with gallopers had fallen due to the synthetic tracks.
“At the volume and the speed that horses go, there is a risk of injury so we’re always trying to improve our maintenance programs to reduce this.” “As time has gone on there have been fewer and fewer injuries due to the great new tracks and the products we have to maintain them. We also take feedback from the trainers, the riders and the vets as to what we can do better.” O’Keeffe said track maintenance was the most important role of his staff, which is made up of 25 full-time workers and a handful of casuals. “It’s certainly the largest part of our working week that is spent maintaining all of the tracks. “Each morning we go and measure all the surfaces. We get feedback from all the trainers and riders on how the tracks are riding. All of the tracks require different maintenance at all times of the year and we try to present them at 100 per cent every day in any type of weather condition.” O’Keeffe said the synthetic tracks require a lot of maintenance during winter when the weather is colder as the track firms up and conversely when it is hot in summer they tended to soften up.
The new Gallop Track is designed to handle these weather scenarios.
Supervising the installation and laying of the Flemington Gallop Track is Ian Pearse, known as the father of synthetic surfaces in Australia. 2021 has proven to be a momentous one for Pearse as he received a kidney transplant at the start of the year. After his health improved Pearse decided to get back into building synthetic tracks and he started a new company called Gallop Track. Pearse was the founder of Pro-Ride, the company that introduced synthetic tracks to Australia, but due to his ill health, he sold out of the business. Pearse said he has loved being involved in the installation of the Flemington track. “We see the opportunity as really exciting to be able to get back into the industry after five years off. We’ve done a few renovations at Newcastle, Lindsay Park and now the new track at Flemington.” “With the Gallop Track, we’ve created a system which stays more flexible under colder temperatures surfaces. We’ve added some UV stabilisers into it,
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