Racing on the newly constructed Tapeta track at Gulfstream Park has been pushed back for approximately a week due to an unexpected delay in the delivery of the inner rail, which is currently held up in U.S. Customs in Miami after being shipped from the United Kingdom.

Racing on the all-weather surface had been scheduled to get under way Sept. 23.

When the rail is delivered and installed, Gulfstream Park will be the first track to offer racing on dirt, turf, and all-weather surfaces.

On the surface 

“We are refreshing the inner turf course now,” said Billy Badgett, Executive Director of Florida Racing Operations. “After the Tapeta surface is installed, we will put in a brand new turf course inside the Tapeta track, with the dirt to the outside of the Tapeta.

“We are also installing a brand new drainage system for the turf course, which we never had before,” Badgett added. “When it rains, the turf course will dry out a lot quicker.”

The Tapeta track will be 60 feet wide and accommodate a maximum field size of 12.

Construction crews will work mainly at night. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, crews will work from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m.; racedays, they will work from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m.

“Everybody is very excited,” Badgett said. “This will help us when we have to take races off the turf. Right now, we have fields of 12 that scratch down to four, and we get crushed on handle. We’ve done our homework, and the fields in off-the-turf races that have synthetic tracks really hold together.”