PARIS, FRANCE—Contrasting views on the future of synthetic tracks were expressed at the meeting of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities in Paris on Oct. 6, following the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I) meeting at Longchamp.
British opinion, expressed by Ian Renton, boss of Arena Leisure which owns three of Britain’s all weather tracks — Lingfield, Wolverhampton, and Southwell — was upbeat about the prospects of group I races being held at these venues in the near future.
But Jamie Martin, senior vice president of Woodbine in Toronto, Canada, said that despite Santa Anita holding the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on the new surface later this month the introduction of synthetic racetrack materials over the past two years had come to a halt in North America.
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