The circumference of the inner turf course is 7 furlongs. The turns on this course are sharper than the outer turf course and a little tougher to negotiate for the jockey and horse. For this reason, the Daily Racing Form displays a different symbol for races run on Outer vs. Inner turf courses.
Full Answer
Some horse races are on the grass to add variety and excitement to the competitions. But trainers choose to run horses on the surface that gives their horse the best chance to win, and some horses run better over a fast surface, and grass surfaces are typically firmer and faster than dirt.
harrow: Implement or unit with pulling teeth, or tines used to rake and loosen the upper surface of a track.
If a racetrack offers dirt and turf racing, you can assume an off-the-turf race is contested on dirt. If the track has synthetic and turf surfaces, an off-the-turf contest is naturally transferred to synthetic.
All of the above races are contested on dirt; notable turf (grass) races include the Belmont Derby, Belmont Oaks, Manhattan Handicap, Just A Game Handicap, Bowling Green Handicap, Man O' War Stakes, Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational.
Harrowing should be done when the conditions are becoming slightly warmer and from March onwards is ideal. The ground will become churned up if you harrow when it's too wet, while you may not be able to harrow effectively if the land is too dry.
Tapeta is very similar to Polytrack. There's almost no kickback and they say that it's more versatile than Polytrack. It's a very fair surface to race, and would be quite similar to Good on a turf track – as similar as all weather could be anyway!
The horse's conformation, the size of the feet and the gait. Those three things play a big part of a horse's handling the turf. I personally believe the foot is where it all begins. A big flat footed horse, aka pie plates, grabs the turf and helps a horse stride longer and smoother.
Track or lead ponies are horses that offer support and comfort for racehorses as they travel to and from the racetrack. Often older than their charges, a track pony or lead pony offers guidance and support, allowing the racehorse to focus on their job rather than the sights and sounds of the racetrack.
Breeze: Working a horse at a moderate speed; less effort than handily. Bullet work: The best workout time for the distance on a given day at a track.
Secretariat was so fast because he had outstanding conformation, an unusually large heart, and exceptional stride length.
Turf, the most common track surface in Europe. Dirt, the most common track surface in the US. Artificial or Synthetic, the collective term for a number of proprietary man-made surfaces in use at a number of locations around the world.
Only four horses challenged Secretariat in the Belmont, even though the previous seven horses to have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness withered in the 1 1/2-mile race, unable to match Citation's 1948 Triple Crown.
Belmont Park is also the home of the final leg of the Triple Crown each year: the Belmont Stakes. The $1,000,000 Belmont Stakes is the longest and most demanding leg of the Triple Crown series. And, as the third jewel in the Triple Crown, it can make or break a Triple Crown champion.
Secretariat’s 31-length victory at the 1973 Belmont Stakes still stands as the largest in the history of American Grade 1 stakes races. The win also set a world record (2:24 flat) not only for the winner of Belmont Stakes, but for the mile and a half (2.4 km) on dirt.
Belmont Park is often called one of the best-landscaped venues in American sports because of its stately backyard park (situated behind the grandstand) that includes a paddock where horses are saddled before each race.
The original Belmont track opened on May 4, 1905 but following two separate engineering surveys, Belmont’s grandstand/clubhouse were deemed unsafe and a new grandstand had to be built. In 1968 a new grandstand was built at the steep cost of $30.7 million, but considering it holds more racing fans than any other venue the price was right.
Without a Triple Crown at stake, the size of the Belmont Day crowd can vary between 40,000 and 70,000, but remains the largest of the season.
Belmont Park is a 430-acre racetrack in Elmont, N.Y. There are usually two major race meets at Belmont Park: a Spring/Summer meet from late-April to mid-July; and a Fall Championship meet from early-September to late-October. Belmont Park is also the home of the final leg of the Triple Crown each year: the Belmont Stakes.
Located in Elmont, New York, a Long Island community on the border with the New York City borough of Queens, Belmont Park opened in 1905.
The Belmont Stakes is the longest of the Triple Crown races and therefore the most testing for the young horses. The 1 mile and a half that they will have to travel is generally the longest that these horses will have run in their career.
Belmont Park is one of three racetracks in the New York Circuit with the other two being Saratoga, which hosts the summer meet, and Aqueduct, which hosts the winter meet. Horses on the New York Circuit will usually move from track to track as the season progresses.
The new Belmont Park can now host over 100 000 fans but that of course happens only on the main racing days. In 2007, talks emerged to shut down Aqueduct and move the winter racing to Belmont Park but the idea thankfully died down and the three New York racetracks will continue to operate, at least for now.
The local breed of riders is amongst the best in the country, but the most famous American and sometimes foreign jockeys travel to Belmont Park to take part in the graded stakes race organized here. From the list of Belmont Park Jockeys, those are the most talented and reliable year after year.
Route races of 1 mile or more are more balanced and only about 20% of these races are won wire to wire. In both Sprint and route races, it is better to be starting from the outside gates. Interestingly, the 1 mile and 1/16 races at Belmont Park are won more often by early leaders and being on the inside is favorable.
Note that some change is coming to the neighborhood of Belmont Park in 2020, probably for the better. The NHL hockey team the New York Islanders will be moving their stadium next door and that might attract some new fans to the racetrack.
Thanks to this configuration, Belmont Park does not have a very strong track bias. Just like most North American horse racing tracks, Belmont Park tends to favor somewhat the horses who can take the lead or stay close to it throughout. But at Belmont Park, it is still possible to catch the leaders in the long stretch.
There are 3 main types of synthetic track surfaces: polytrack, tapeta footings, and cushion track. Polytrack is made out of sand, carpet, spandex, and rubber and is an extremely popular surface. Tapeta footings are built with Tapeta™ mix at the top and a geo-textile membrane or porous blacktop underneath.
A “turf” track is a natural grass track, not to be confused with artificial turf in other sports. Turf is the most popular flat track surface in Europe and is favored over the dirt surfaces preferred by American track owners.
Even breeding is affected by the importance of weather. Thoroughbreds whose bloodline includes racehorses who ran well in the mud are known as mudders. Steeplechase horses which have shown to be careless or timid in the rain are not put out to stud as enthusiastically as sires who can handle all conditions.
Thoroughbreds on Dirt Tracks in America. Dirt tracks were the first common flat horse racing surfaces in western society. Dirt remains the most common type of track used in the United States. Dirt is more affordable than any artificial surface and even more affordable than maintaining grass.
The fatality rate was found to be 3.09 fatalities per 1,000 starts on dirt and only 1.95 fatalities per 1,000 starts after conversion. Some trainers are convinced that synthetic surfaces cause more long-term damage to Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses.
Demonstrated that Thoroughbred deaths went down by 37% after dirt tracks were converted to synthetic surfaces at 4 tracks in the 2000s. The study collected data from the storied Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields, Hollywood Park, and Santa Anita racetracks.
The advantage of a turf track is that the horses slide and slip less often and are generally healthier after races as a result. Another advantage is that clods and dust are not being thrown in a horse or jockey’s face from the thundering hooves, as they almost always are on a dry dirt track.