Pro-Ride Racing Australia has won the contract to fix and maintain Geelong's synthetic track which was closed last month when stones were found in the surface.Pro-Ride was responsible for rectifying and maintaining the Santa Anita racetrack in the United States in August last year after the synthetic Cushion Track had been installed to replace the dirt surface.The Cushion Track had been experiencing drainage problems and 22 days of racing had been lost, but it has performed well for racing and t

Pro-Ride Racing Australia has won the contract to fix and maintain Geelong's synthetic track which was closed last month when stones were found in the surface.

Pro-Ride was responsible for rectifying and maintaining the Santa Anita racetrack in the United States in August last year after the synthetic Cushion Track had been installed to replace the dirt surface.

The Cushion Track had been experiencing drainage problems and 22 days of racing had been lost, but it has performed well for racing and training in the eight months since the Pro-Ride polymers were added to the surface.

"The Santa Anita track has extremely high usage, over 300,000 horses have been over it since the rectification, 1700 horses train on it in the morning," said Ian Pearse, managing director of Pro-Ride Racing Australia.

"In October last year Santa Anita successfully held the US25 million Breeders Cup on the track and it will be held there again this year."

The Pro-Ride surface, sand mixed with a polymeric binder which is a resin compound, can be coloured green for use on crossings on turf tracks.

"The major feature of the binder is its cohesiveness and viscosity which provides a two-stage cushioning effect and minimises kick-back," Pearse said.

The all-weather surface requires no water, is low maintenance and can be raced on all year round.

Pro-Ride installed its first synthetic non-wax based surface at Macedon Lodge in Victoria in 2001 and the company now has 16 in Australia and the US.

The company has installed training tracks at Morphettville, Rosehill, Broadmeadow and Gosford as well as private tracks for David Hayes at Lindsay Park, Euroa, and Wadham Park in both Queensland and Victoria.

Training tracks are also in the process of being put in at Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Grafton and at Matamata in New Zealand.

Two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Carl Nafzger is one of several trainers using the surface at Skylight Training Centre near Louisville, Kentucky.

Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) earlier this month announced the controversial ThoroughTrack, a sand and wax-fibre surface, would be closed for racing until April next year.

Remedial work on the ThoroughTrack will start in August and should take about five weeks.

Jockeys refused to ride at the meeting on April 8 when they discovered stones in the track following drainage work and stewards had little alternative but to abandon the meeting.

Due to the drought, the Geelong turf track is currently not operational for racing or training, but it has been re-seeded and, pending good weather, is scheduled to be ready to race on at the July 3 meeting.