Former trainer turned synthetic racetrack developer Michael Dickinson was at Wednesday's post position draw and he was in fine form. Dickinson's Tapeta surface, created at his former training center in Maryland, is in place at Godolphin's two Dubai training centers and is the surface in use in today's pictures from Al Quoz.
"I love it here," Dickinson glowed. "They treat me so well, it's like a second home."
Dickinson has made more than a dozen trips to the desert and was just in Qatar last week surveying a racetrack which is considering adding his surface. I've had several phone conversations with Dickinson throughout the years and he was particularly fond of the call I gave one of his horses, Soto. The Kentucky Jockey Club [G2] winner returned off a long break to Philadelphia Park, where he won, and where I happened to be calling the races. Soto went on to win the West Virginia Derby in what was a track record at the time. Following his retirement, Dickinson sent me a DVD of his career, which included the call of Soto's allowance win. I earned no royalties (nor was I looking for them).
Officials from Meydan Racecourse confirmed that the track will use a synthetic surface but made it very clear that the final announcement of which surface will be made in the future.
Dickinson submitted a bid to Santa Anita before their eventual selection of Cushion Track. "They accepted the low bid," said the former trainer. After heavy winter rains fell in Southern California, the track was forced to cancel a host of race days when the Cushion Track became unsafe. Dickinson, while mum on the subject, is obviously hoping his surface is selected for use at Meydan and he is by all means, a heavy favorite. Tapeta is in use at Presque Isle Downs and Golden Gate Fields in America. He acknowledges that his product his expensive and if a track wants to take a shortcut on the surface, they could potentially deal with the ramifications of that.
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