Woodbine to replace current synthetic surface

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) announced Wednesday that Woodbine Race Track's current Polytrack main surface will be replaced with a Tapeta synthetic track for 2016.

"At Woodbine, it's in our mandate to act in the best interests of horse racing and a regular, thorough examination of our track surfaces is paramount in that pursuit," said Jim Lawson, Chairman of the Board, Woodbine Entertainment Group. "We went through an exhaustive consultation exercise in our search for the new main track. It's clear that Tapeta is the next generation of horse racing surfaces that we'll be proud to unveil in April of 2016."

Replacement of the Polytrack surface with Tapeta will begin on Dec. 1, 2015. Pending Ontario Racing Commission approval, the four December dates, scheduled for the first week of the month, will be moved to Thursdays in November. Closing day for the 133-date meet is set for November 29.

"A surface that will endure racing and training through hot and cold climate extremes for more than eight months a year is critical for our horsepeople," said Lawson. "We also considered racing fans and horseplayers through this process. Field size, the number of quality races and wagering on Woodbine's thoroughbred racing product has grown appreciably in the synthetic track era. We see those metrics continuing to improve with the installation of Tapeta."