All Weather Racecourses

In the UK six tracks use all-weather racing surfaces and there’s differences between each track. While they come under the umbrella title of all-weather tracks there are two different types of surface. Chelmsford, Kempton and Lingfield have Polytrack while Southwell,  Wolverhampton and Newcastle use Tapeta.

Polytrack

Polytrack is a kind of rubberised sand and is similar to running on fastish turf and kickback is not an issue. Most trainers like Polytrack as it's viewed as a very fair surface. It would be very similar to good ground on turf or even good to firm.

Tapeta

Tapeta is also viewed as a good surface to race on, with very little kickball and is considered to be very versatile and to suit a lot more horses. It’s essentially good ground.

Turf form does not always transfer to the all weather tracks so when looking for winners consider only all weather form. In addition, form does not transfer well between the different tracks because of the different surfaces and the different characteristics of each course. Saying that, the consistent nature of the surfaces means that most races can be run at a good pace and you get more truly run races. Please also note that rain has the opposite effect on the all weather surfaces than it does on turf in that when it rains the surfaces compact and become firmer. Also, in periods of long dry weather the surfaces become looser and the going becomes slightly slower.

The key to finding winners is to look for horses that do well at particular courses and trainers and jockeys who have good records at the track.