Quote:
Originally Posted by GMB@BP
1 mile, no turf...
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No turf course = no big time racing at any track in the 21st Century.
What I'd like to see them do is add a super-wide 6 1/2-furlong turf course. This produces turns that are 825 feet long, same as the Aqueduct inner Turf course (Hawthorne's turf course has 806-foot-long turns; at the Fair Grounds they're 814 feet). With a total width of 137 feet (assuming a "no-man's land" of 20 feet between the inner rail on the dirt and the outer rail on the turf), a semi-permanent rail, set 73 feet out from the "zero" (6 1/2-furlong) position, results in an "outer turf course" of the same 9/10ths of a mile (7 furlongs plus 132 feet) circumference that Golden Gate Fields has, and Santa Anita used to have. Turf distances in this configuration include 4 furlongs and 4 1/2 furlongs (both from "zero," or the rail up 10 feet, etc.), 5 furlongs (rail at 52 feet or 73 feet), 7 furlongs, 7 1/2 furlongs, and 1 mile (rail at 0 or 10 feet), 1 mile 70 yards and 1 1/16 miles (rail up at 52 or 73 feet), 1 1/4 miles, 1 5/16 miles and 1 3/8 miles (rail at 0 or 10 feet), and 1 7/16 miles and 1 1/2 miles (rail at 52 or 73 feet).
