Guide to the All-Weather

No matter if it’s sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy or snowy, racing takes place on the All-Weather throughout the year in an abundance of varying conditions and it provides a different challenge to the turf for flat horses. Some are far more suited by an artificial surface and despite some of the racing being of a lower class, it’s usually very competitive. We have free horse racing tips for all the action from the seven tracks around Britain and Ireland that host races on the artificial surfaces.

Surfaces

Fibresand (Southwell) – Fibresand is a unique surface made up of a mixture of sand and wispy fibres. Southwell is the only track in the UK to use this surface. It’s quite deep which puts an emphasis on stamina, therefore placing significant importance on a horses ability to stay the trip and their fitness. Because of the depth of Fibresand, it produces kickback which is when the sand flies up into the horses faces, which some have a strong disliking of.

Polytrack (Lingfield, Kempton, Chelmsford, Dundalk) – The most common of the artificial surfaces and much quicker than Fibresand. Polytrack is made up of silica sand, recycled synthetic fibres such as carpet and spandex, recycled rubber/pvc and in cold climates may contain jelly cable. The entire mixture is coated with wax. It’s known for it’s consistency, even in extreme weather conditions, which is what makes it so popular for racecourses as well as training gallops.

Tapeta (Wolverhampton, Newcastle) – A combination of sand, rubber, fibre and wax makes up the top 4-7 inches of the surface which is installed on top of either porous asphalt or a geotextile membrane. It’s relatively similar in style to Polytrack so much of the time, form is transferred between those two surfaces.

Tracks

Southwell

Top Jockeys

1. Luke Morris
2. Andrew Mullen
3. Ben Curtis
4. Alistair Rawlinson
5. Joe Fanning

Top Trainers

1. Michael Appleby
2. Scott Dixon
3. Derek Shaw
4. Richard Fahey
5. David Evans

Top Sires

1. Invincible Spirit
2. Street Cry
3. Exceed And Excel
4. Pivotal
5. Captain Rio

Lingfield

Top Jockeys

1. Adam Kirby
2. Luke Morris
3. George Baker
4. Jim Crowley
5. Oisin Murphy

Top Trainers

1. Richard Hannon
2. Mark Johnston
3. Charlie Appleby
4. John Gosden
5. Andrew Balding

Top Sires

1. Exceed And Excel
2. Invincible Spirit
3. Dansili
4. Cape Cross
5. Kyllachy

Kempton

Top Jockeys

1. Adam Kirby
2. Jim Crowley
3. Luke Morris
4. George Baker
5. James Doyle

Top Trainers

1. John Gosden
2. Richard Hannon
3. Charlie Appleby
4. James Fanshawe
5. Ralph Beckett

Top Sires

1. Exceed And Excel
2. Invincible Spirit
3. Oasis Dream
4. Cape Cross
5. Kodiac

Chelmsford

Top Jockeys

1. Luke Morris
2. Silvestre De Sousa
3. Jim Crowley
4. Adam Kirby
5. Oisin Murphy

Top Trainers

1. Mark Johnston
2. Saeed bin Suroor
3. David Simcock
4. William Haggas
5. Stuart Williams

Top Sires

1. Kodiac
2. Exceed And Excel
3. Dark Angel
4. Acclamation
5. Invincible Spirit

Dundalk

Top Jockeys

1. Colin Keane
2. Pat Smullen
3. Shane Foley
4. Wayne Lordan
5. Donnacha O’Brien

Top Trainers

1. Mick Halford
2. Aidan O’Brien
3. Ger Lyons
4. Joseph O’Brien
5. John Feane

Top Sires

1. Footstepsinthesand
2. Kodiac
3. Galileo
4. Holy Roman Emperor
5. Shamardal

Wolverhampton

Top Jockeys

1. Luke Morris
2. Adam Kirby
3. Joe Fanning
4. Richard Kingscote
5. Martin Harley

Top Trainers

1. Mark Johnston
2. David Evans
3. Richard Fahey
4. Michael Appleby
5. Tom Dascombe

Top Sires

1. Cape Cross
2. Exceed And Excel
3. Kheleyf
4. Dark Angel
5. Acclamation

Newcastle

Top Jockeys

1. Joe Fanning
2. P J McDonald
3. Ben Curtis
4. Luke Morris
5. Kevin Stott

Top Trainers

1. Richard Fahey
2. Jim Goldie
3. John Gosden
4. Mark Johnston
5. Michael Easterby

Top Sires

1. Acclamation
2. Dutch Art
3. Exceed And Excel
4. Kodiac
5. Invincible Spirit

*All Trainer, Jockey and Sire rankings are most winners over the past 5 years and are correct at the time of writing.