Jul 27, 2008

Hipodromo de Las Piedras

This is my other hometown racetrack. Located in the border between Montevideo department and Canelones department (you can clearly see the river that marks the border passing through the track!) this is a triangular dirt track with a 700m chute (it almost is a straight course), a 1300m chute and a 1500m chute. The total circumference of the track is just a tick above 1500m. The stretch is in the upper part of the picture. It is a small racetrack, but it was the center of Uruguay´s racing world while the main racetrack (Maroñas) was closed between 1997 and 2003.


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Hipodromo de San Isidro

One of the finest racetracks in the world. This is in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. It has a main turf track and an inner dirt track with two far turns. The "smaller" dirt track measures 2240m around and the big one 2600m. The main turf track measures a whooping 2780m around. It has a straight course of 1000m, a 1400m chute and a 2400m chute on the backstretch. If you look to the west there is a training track almost as big as the racetrack itself.


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Jul 24, 2008

Hipodromo de La Plata

This will be a straightforward post, so, this is in La Plata, in Argentina.

Track surface: Dirt
Track Circumference: 2050m
Chute: 1700m


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Since there is no chute in the far turn the sprints are run at least at 1100m and not less, since that involves starting in the turn itself. Also, there are no races between 1700m and 2100m. Which are, indeed, not-so-common distances.

Jul 20, 2008

Hipodromo Argentino de Palermo

This is one of the two main tracks in Argentina. Located near the city centre in Buenos Aires, the nation´s capital, this is a dirt triangular track with a circumference of little less than 2400m, or 12 furlongs. It features a 1000m straight, and also 1800m and 2200m small chutes. The 2000m races start in the little straight to the right of the picture. A railroad track runs alongside the backstretch.


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This is a 2500m race run there, the Gran Premio Nacional G.I won by brazilian Eu Tamben.

If you look to the north, you´ll see there is an airport less than a kilometre away from the backstretch.

Jul 19, 2008

Hipodromo Independencia

This is a dirt oval located in Rosario, Argentina. It has an oval of around 1785m, with chutes for 1000m, 1600m, 1700m, and one that looks like it measures 2350m, so I guess they use it for 2300m races. It is interesting to see how the racetrack is the only park in the middle of a big city.


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Jul 14, 2008

Ippodromo San Siro (Milan)

This is a large turf oval in Milan, Italy. It has 2 turns at each end of the track, so in theory there are 4 different ovals in there. The big one measures 2800m and the small one just over 2000m. The stretch is on the lower side of the image, and the finish line is just where the first turn starts, in front of the grandstand. I found this video of a 2400m race. The chute that starts in the lower right side of the image measures just over 1000m. The strange thing is that there is also a chute on the other end of the stretch.. I wonder if they also run left-handed races there? Also, you can see that there is a steeplechase track on the inside.


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Just to the south there is a smaller oval used for trotters, and you can also see Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (formerly also known as San Siro) where both Milan football teams play.

Jul 10, 2008

Coffs Harbour Racecourse

It is curious how almost every city in Australia has its own racecourse. According to Wikipedia Coffs Harbour has less than 30,000 inhabitants, but that doesn´t stop it from having a very nice turf oval, with the far turn bigger than the near one, and four chutes, one measuring only 600 metres from the finish line (I guess it is used rather for 2300m races) another one for 4 furlong (800m) races in the middle of the turn, then a 5 furlong (1000m) chute and at the top of the backstretch a mile (1600m) chute. The racetrack measures around 1700m.


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Jul 9, 2008

Happy Valley

With this one I complete my first goal, that is to have at least one track from every corner of the world. This is Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong. It is a very small irregular turf oval, mainly due to the land restrictions there are in Hong Kong (there isn´t much free space). The track is around 1400m or 7 furlongs around, and it has small chutes for 1000m races (which doubles for 2400m races), 1200m and 1800m. It has a very large grandstand which borders the track where the finish line is. I can´t post the map directly here, but you can see it through this link.

Jul 8, 2008

Nad Al Sheba

This is one of the best racecourses in the world, specially for the elevated purses it gives out, including the world`s richest dirt race, the Dubai World Cup (G.I) ran over 2000m every spring in the international meeting, where several G.I millionare races take place. This track is shaped like a triangle, with an outer dirt track featuring a 1200m straight, and also 1600m and 2000m chutes, and it is 2250m around. The inner turf track has also 1200m, 1600m and 2000m chutes, though the 1200m chute is not used for those distances but to accomodate 2800m to 3200m races. The track seems a little narrow when compared to other big dirt tracks around the world, and it is 20m wide.


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The Emirates Racing Site has a nice diagram and some more info about the track.

Jul 6, 2008

Clairwood Racecourse

This is another southafrican racecourse, in Durban. It is a turf left-handed track with a 1200m straight course and an oval measuring around 2600m, thought it´s not actually a perfect oval since the far turn is bigger and more "square" thatn the clubhouse turn, which also isn´t symmetrical. At the top of the backstretch the distance is 2000m, so I guess that´s where they start those races.



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Kenilworth Racecourse

This is a left-handed turf course located in Cape Town South Africa, that actually has three totally different courses that come together after their respective finish lines. Taking the stretch run as reference, the "outside" course is 2700m around, and it has a chute for races up to 1900m, and the "inner" course is 2800m around (because its far turn is much bigger) and it uses the chute for races up to 2000m. Both courses are triangular in shape, with the clubhouse turn being the "third" side of the triangle. There is a 1200m Straight course that goes through both turns. Apparently all three courses have their own finish lines.


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Well, now I only have to post a racetrack from Asia to have all continents covered!

Jul 5, 2008

Hipodromo Nacional de Maroñas

This is my hometown main racetrack. It is a large (2065 metres) oval, with four chutes, the one in the stretch is for 750m (3 3/4 furlong) races and for the big 2800m (14 furlong) Gran Premio de Honor G.II Stakes, which is run in the spring. Also there is a 1300m (6 1/2 furlong) chute along the far turn, a 1800m (9 furlong) chute along the backstretch and a 2000m (10 furlong) chute on the clubhouse turn. There is an inside dirt training track, and you can see the remains of the third track that was wiped out during the remodelation work that took place 6 years ago.

This track was closed from 1997 until 2003, when it was reopened. It is the main racing venue in Uruguay, and one of the most important in South America. Races are run every saturday and sunday throughout the year.

UPDATE: Maroñas added an inner Turf oval, measuring a little less than 2000m, with a 1600m inner chute on the backstretch.


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