Trainers in sand battle

RACING Queensland chief executive Eliot Forbes is at odds with many in the local industry when he insists a sand-profile racetrack is “industry best practice”.

With the more traditional profile of Doomben performing admirably week after week, in the past 14 months trainers have persistently questioned why a super-draining sand profile is necessary, given the associated dramas that seem to come with them.

They had hoped Dale Monteith’s report would return them to a more traditional surface, but the controversial sand profile will remain.

Forbes said all renovation options had been considered and he has no doubt the one being adopted was the best solution for Queensland racing’s biggest cash cow.

“We have approached this with a long-term vision to make sure we get the best solu- tion to find a robust and enduring answer to the performance of the track,” he said.

“Obviously this track was designed to be a sand-based track, from the subsoil drainage all the way up.

“Sand-based tracks have a perch water table and that relates to the profile of sands and how the water travels.

“If you go and change that, you change the fundamental design of the track.

“We certainly gave consideration to alternatives and it may be that if we can’t source the right sort of angular sand, we could move to a 10 per cent loam mixed in with the sand that would aid the stability.

“If you move to put loam in it, you impact the infiltration rate and you change the characteristic of the surface.

“... We wanted to find the best solution.

“Sand-based tracks with perched water table, high infiltration rate is best practice in the racing industry.’’