Tapeta surface sets up 'level playing field'

It is a truism that certain horses run better on certain courses. But the adage "horses for courses" may have to be extinguished literally speaking, if the new tapeta surface lives up to the predictions of its inventor on Saturday.

The iconic Meydan Racecourse, set to host the 15th running of the richest horse race in the world, becomes only the third venue to boast of this new all-weather synthetic surface. Very few runners have experience on this track making for an intriguing Dubai World Cup night.

"This is a much kinder surface. It is designed for safety and a level playing field. All the horses running have a good chance," said Michael Dickinson, the architect of tapeta which is a latin name for carpet. "It is a Mercedes," he said when asked what made tapeta different from a dirt or turf track.

"This is the best surface we've been on. They have different ingredients to others. It's a secret like the formula for Coca-Cola," said Yorkshire-born Dickinson, who established himself as America's premier racing trainers within a short time after moving to the US in 1987. "I trained on the tracks [dirt] for 10 years and realised there had to be a better way.

"So that's why it took me four years to invent this surface. I had 52 different formulas checking which one was the best. No 52 I put it down in my farm in Maryland. I won the Breeders' Cup twice with a horse called Da Hoss in 1996 and 1998. After that some of the people wanted to use the surface themselves. That's when we started tapeta," he said explaining the evolution of the new surface.

There are two race tracks in America in Golden Gate field in San Francisco and Lake Erie in Plesque Isle Downs. "We have two trainee tracks in England and both the trainers trained over 100 winners last year. But Dubai will see how well it has been received this year," he said.

"The racing has been terrific. It's been a very fair track. Horses can win on the lead. They can win from the middle and they can come from behind. So we want the best horse to win not the track to dictate who wins. And horse have been winning on the inside on the middle and the outside," said Dickinson.

"We've got over 20 different nations represented here in the carnival. And all the trainers and jockeys have accepted and praised the track. We are very proud of our achievement that they came from all four points in the globe and they all like the surface," he added.

Dickinson felt that tapeta was the way forward to rid the sport of drug abuse. "America is the only major racing nation that races on dirt. An American dirt racer cannot survive without a load of drugs. And the public are going off drugs in all sports aren't they. They are turning people off. This is the future," he said.

Asked what was special about the surface which looks similar to a dirt track. "It is about 80 per cent sand but they need to have five different packs of fibres and three different types of waxes. That is another secret ingredient," he added.

He was confident that horses will get acclimatised to the new surface without any problems. "They don't need much experience on tapeta. It will be new to all. But it's fair and should be a seamless transition to almost any horse. Most horses like it," said Dickinson, who spent two of his formative years under legendary Irish steeplechase trainer Vincent O'Brien.

"Don't you worry about the track, you just worry about the horse. If you pick the right horse, the track will take care of the rest," he said hinting that tapeta surface is a punter's delight.

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