Owners and trainers have demonstrated their support for harness racing at Tapeta Park Devonport tomorrow (Wednesday) with full fields and an emergency declared in all six races.
Eight of the state’s top 10 trainers will compete at the first harness meeting in Australia on a synthetic thoroughbred surface.
Trainers Grant Hodges, Barrie Rattray, Nathan Ford, Rohan Hillier, Christian Salter, Zeke Slater, Andrew Rawlings and Adrian Duggan are entrenched in the top ten and all have a minimum of two acceptors.
They will face strong competition from many local conditioners, including Maurice Jarman, Shelley Barnes, Geoff Smith and Phillip Aylett, who have become familiar with the Tapeta surface through training at the venue in recent months.
The Tapeta surface is a mixture of sand, fibre and wax and is similar to the Meydan track in Dubai that hosts the World Cup which is the richest thoroughbred race on the planet.
The harness circumference, with the marker pegs in position, is 1479 metres. The length of the home straight is 305 metres an d the racing track is 15 metres wide.
The radius of the turn into the home straight is 130 metres and the turn out of the home straight has a radius of 143 metres.
Distances for standing starts are 1865 metres and 2565 metres with mobile starts being 1700 metres and 2400 metres. With the standing starts commencing in the chutes at the top of each straight, there is a run of 386 metres to the first corner. The run to the first corner from mobile starts is 221 metres.
The meeting will be on Sky 2 with the first race at 1:44 pm and the last of six at 4:44 pm.