Developed and installed by Gallop Track and Equine Crossing Australia (ECA), the system uses a rebound mat base that cushions impact and allows water to pass quickly through the surface, even in heavy rain.<\/p>\n
The crossing is built to handle horse, vehicle and truck traffic, requires only light grooming for raceday presentation, and does not require watering, with the surface remaining stable without additional moisture.<\/p>\n
Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Wilcox said the project was a milestone for Ellerslie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly proud to be the first club in New Zealand to install a crossing of this standard,\u201d said Wilcox.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project is about more than just infrastructure, it\u2019s about doing everything we can to improve safety for two of our most important participants on raceday \u2013 the jockeys and the horses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s satisfying to deliver something that lifts the bar for the entire industry and we hope other clubs will consider installing similar crossings after seeing the benefits here at Ellerslie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Six horses galloped across the new crossing on Monday morning. Wilcox said seeing that and hearing positive feedback from the riders \u201cwas a great moment for our team\u201d.<\/p>\n
Senior jockey Samantha Collett said the horses travelled confidently and without hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great out there this morning. I thought it rode nicely, with the new surface a lot softer to ride across,\u201d said Collett.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s certainly a fantastic new asset for Ellerslie.\u201d<\/p>\n
ECA\u2019s Mick White said the crossing\u2019s design represents a new benchmark for racetrack safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe this is the safest crossing in the world,\u201d said White.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe profile is made up of a stone drainage layer, a hex safety mat, and a rebound safety mat, topped with 150mm of green synthetic fibre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rebound mat limits bottom-up compaction and aids drainage, while the top layer replicates turf so the horses can\u2019t tell the difference between the crossing and the course proper.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ECA Rebound Crossing is already in use at major Australian venues including Flemington, Ballarat, Sandown and Elwick, with further installations confirmed for Queensland and South Australia. <\/p>\n
Feedback from Australian jockeys and trainers has been consistently positive, noting the natural feel underfoot and improved confidence for horses.<\/p>\n
Racegoers will see the crossing in action for the first time when it makes its raceday debut at Ellerslie\u2019s Spring Raceday on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald\u2019s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world\u2019s biggest horse racing carnivals.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Developed and installed by Gallop Track and Equine Crossing Australia (ECA), the system uses a rebound mat base…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[116793,14036,19781,100081,121,67268,25045,14366,9641,146429,13788,1071,5549,79,109112,6093,26339,16,15,146430,6095],"class_list":{"0":"post-429833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-added","9":"tag-adds","10":"tag-ellerslie","11":"tag-extra","12":"tag-feature","13":"tag-jockeys","14":"tag-last","15":"tag-move","16":"tag-new","17":"tag-pieces","18":"tag-planned","19":"tag-racing","20":"tag-safety","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-surface","23":"tag-to","24":"tag-track","25":"tag-uk","26":"tag-united-kingdom","27":"tag-welcomed","28":"tag-with"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115216334550427684","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}