Track rating

What tools are used to determine the Track Rating?

The following are used to determine a track rating:

Visual inspection
Penetrometer
Clegg Hammer
Going Stick

The objective readings from the Penetrometer, Clegg Hammer and Going Stick are considered along with a subjective visual assessment of the track. The Track Rating is not assessed strictly to a scale of the Penetrometer, Clegg Hammer or Going Stick.

What are the Penetrometer, Clegg Hammer and Going Stick used for?

The primary purpose of the three tools is to assist the Racecourse Manager in determining the firmness of the track surface, the profile hardness and the shear strength of the turf. Readings are taken at least two days prior to a race meeting. The readings assist the Racecourse Manager in determining the maintenance regime leading into the meeting. On race morning readings are taken and the results in conjunction with the visual inspection a track rating is posted.

	Penetrometer	Clegg Hammer
Measures	Soil resistance to penetration	Strength/stiffness & consolidation
Method	A 1 kilogram weight is released by a trigger action and falls 1 meter down a shaft, which in-turn hits a 1cm square rod into the soil profile. The 1cm square rod has 1cm increments as the measurement for the depth the rod that has entered into the soil profile. This action is undertaken 3 times in the one position, therefore giving 3 readings eg: 2.5, 4.5, 6.5. After all 180 drops have been completed in the 60 different positions around the track, the Penetrometer reading is determined by dividing the total by the amount of drops.	The Clegg Soil Tester consists of a compaction hammer operating within a vertical guide tube. When the hammer is released from a fixed height it falls through the tube and strikes the surface under test, decelerating at a rate determined by the stiffness of the material within the region of impact. A precision accelerometer mounted on the hammer feeds its output to a hand held digital readout unit which registers the deceleration in units of Impact Value (IV). The IV indicates soil strength and shows good correlation with CBR test results.
Means	Manual	Electronic
No. readings taken total	180	60
No. readings at each drop point	3	1
Higher number =	Soft	Firm
Lower number =	Firm	Soft

How is the visual inspection conducted?

The Stewards and Racecourse Manager usually walk the entire circumference of the track on the day of the race meeting. The visual inspection is subjective and takes into account the turf sward, softness/firmness under the heel, and surface moisture.

Guide only

Track ratings are not an exact science. Once a rating is determined at a particular time, many variables can then affect this rating and the condition of the track e.g. Wind, humidity, precipitation, dew, fog, sun, cloud, number of runners per race, etc. The track rating may change during a race meeting.

Charts

Course Circumference Charts

These charts display the average reading across the track each 100 metres or 200 metres.

400 meters to Winning Post charts

These charts display the average reading for each “lane” down the straight measured at 2 metre intervals from the running rail.

What are the track ratings?

The ratings are at the time they are determined and are not a forecast.

Scale	Rating	Comments
1	Fast	Dry hard track, firmer than a good track.
2	Good	Firm track with reasonable grass coverage, on the fast side of good.
3	Good	Track with good grass cover and cushion. Ideal track, heading towards dead.
4	Dead	Track with just some give in it. Shouldn’t affect any chances although on the worse side of good.
5	Dead	A reasonable amount of give in it, on the better side of slow and the worse side of dead.
6	Slow	Not a badly affected track, but will suit some horses more than others, just worse than dead.
7	Slow	A more rain affected track that will chop-out, on the better side of heavy.
8	Heavy	Soft track the horses will get into but not necessarily too wet, just worse side of low, but just into the heavy range.
9	Heavy	A softer track getting into the squelchy area. Genuine heavy.
10	Heavy	A very soft and wet track. The heaviest category.