More than 100 industry professionals attended the first day of meetings and workshops at the Director of Track Field Day at Gulfstream Park. This event brings together super racers and staff to discuss best practices and share opinions on track safety and maintenance.
Roy Smith, track director at Indianapolis horseshoe and founder of the event, joined Michael Depew of Pro Turf Environment and Sports Field to discuss how the Safety and Integrity Act (HISA) will affect the super track .
“It will change the industry as the federal government steps in to regulate racing,” Smith said of the July 1 rollout of HISA. “There will be a lot more record keeping and new record keeping.”
The HISA Rules will require a variety of data to be collected and submitted to the Authority, including track design records, track surface maintenance and training records, and surface material tests. face and many daily tests.
There are still many unanswered questions about how these records are formatted and sent, but Smith made it clear that the new rules will require more time on the part of supervisors and employees.
That led to a discussion about staffing challenges, with most reporting having difficulty finding enough staff. Some have succeeded in finding new employees through social media, and others have benefited from using employees from other departments, as first-timers.
Depew also spoke about approaches to evaluation and monitoring of racing surfaces with John Mascaro of Turf-Tec International.
Also on Monday, Michigan State University’s Dr John “Trey” Rogers spoke about how to grow the ideal turf for racing, including turf selection, setting and re-establishing techniques and turf management. for maximum performance.
Other presentations covered equipment trends from New Holland as well as track layout and design.
Steve Andersen of Equine Equipment, the main sponsor of the event, said: “This is probably going to be the most attended event we’ve ever had. “It’s great to see the commitment so many racetracks have made to the safety of our sport by sending super racetracks and their staff to this important gathering.”
Watch the Managing Director’s Field Day wrap up Tuesday with another full day with topics including emergency response on the track, working with regulatory veterinarians and the racetrack to improve horse safety, design lawn irrigation and second control panel on HISA. There will also be roundtable discussions devoted to jockey and super track games.
More information about the Director of Tracking Field Day is available at www.tracksupers.com.
Industry News – To support purebred industry organizations, BloodHorse publishes industry-related newsletters. Unedited releases by BloodHorse. If you have any questions please contact the organization that produced the newsletter as directed in the newsletter.
