Greyville etc take note

Always thought this was not possible ? Who needs poly ?

From the racing post

ASCOT is planning to lay down a cover over the whole course to beat the wet weather, which has marred Qipco British Champions Day, if trials in the spring prove a success.

The racecourse and Qipco are paying for an inflatable plastic cover to be laid over a furlong of the track in April to test its effectiveness.

The proposal was given a warm welcome by trainers, including Kevin Ryan, whose Classic winner The Grey Gatsby missed last month’s Champion Stakes due to the testing going.

“I think it’s a great idea,” the trainer said. “It’s a great occasion and meeting and it would be nice to have all the good horses there. This year we would have loved to have run The Grey Gatsby but the ground had gone against us.”

bob why not bring up the thread whereby myself and others were called all the names under the sun when we brought it up...at the same time a mate of mine whose horse was scratched from one of the grass races which were meant to be last sunday tells me the reason why they weren't run on grass was because when the pens are moved from poly to grass it fcuks the grass up ..can anyone confirm?

pirates wrote: bob why not bring up the thread whereby myself and others were called all the names under the sun when we brought it up...at the same time a mate of mine whose horse was scratched from one of the grass races which were meant to be last sunday tells me the reason why they weren't run on grass was because when the pens are moved from poly to grass it fcuks the grass up ..can anyone confirm?

Correct Pirates

I remember this post . I even asked why it was not possible to cover the track like they do for the cricket pitches.

I used covers at my pvt training track some 16 years ago. Had 800m covered. Never missed a days work.

When I brought this up a few years ago , I received a mixture of reasons WHY it could not work. ...
One of the best , after costs was , " too much work"
Remember that the tapes at the front of the stalls on race day , used to stop horses that have broken through, have been discontinued a few years ago, due to "costs" too....

Wasn't something similar done at Cheltenham this year?

Mac wrote: Wasn't something similar done at Cheltenham this year?

thats ice and snow covers, these are different

Bob, it will be interesting to see if it works. Pirates there is something that I was told about (but cannot remember off hand) that they put down first so that it does not mess up the grass so I don't think that is the reason. Louis, I stand corrected but down here we stopped using the tape in front of the stalls after a horse of Dean K's I think it was got loose at the pens at Scottsville and when it saw the tape it panicked and went over the fence and fractured its hock I think and had to be put down. I am pretty sure that was the reason they stopped using it here.

louisg wrote: I used covers at my pvt training track some 16 years ago. Had 800m covered. Never missed a days work.

When I brought this up a few years ago , I received a mixture of reasons WHY it could not work. ...
One of the best , after costs was , " too much work"
Remember that the tapes at the front of the stalls on race day , used to stop horses that have broken through, have been discontinued a few years ago, due to "costs" too....

hysteric...LoL...
would be funny if it wasn't true... :blink: