From a
Bloodhorse article about the new turf course after its debut on opening day of Churchill's 2023 Spring Meet:
Quote:
New Turf Course Debuts at Churchill Downs
The track's $10 million lawn was on display April 30 on opening night.
By Gregory A. Hall April 30, 2022
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Quote:
The old mix was four-inch high Kentucky 31 Fescue (90%) and Bluegrass (10%) grown in a three-inch topsoil layer over a 13-inch course masonry sand base. The new course is Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass overseeded with ryegrass.
"We did a bunch of research through our consultants and our turf experts and determined this blend, which is known to be a cooler weather Bermuda, is going to be the right grass for here, the right grass for Churchill Downs, because of its strength resilience to cold weather and tolerance to wear," Ziegler said.
Track officials have said the new course has a redesigned subsurface with a six-inch upper root zone layer created with a blended mix of topsoil and grit sand that sits on a six-inch lower sand layer constructed with masonry sand.
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I don't have any special insights related to impact from type of grass or soil mixture beneath the grass.
However, I do have data suggesting the new turf course is less speed favoring than the old course.
Also, from a purely a subjective visual assessment on my part that is also borne out by stats:
The few foreign shippers so far that have run over the new course appear to have handled it well.
As have horses shipping in from Saratoga.
-jp
.
