Philadelphia Park has just unveiled its new improved racing surface:
Philadelphia Park racing surface draws rave reviews
After being shut down for nearly three weeks, the Philadelphia Park race track opened for training on Monday and already the brand new surface has impressed the local horsemen. Rebuilt from the base up, the new surface will get its first test for competitive racing this Saturday when the track re-opens for live racing with a 12:25 PM post time.
"It's the best race track we've had in 20 years," remarked trainer Ed Lehman, one of the most respected horseman here in the backstretch. "I tend to be a very critical person," he continued, "when it comes to issues like the track surface. I'm 100% thrilled with the way the track is right now. They've done a tremendous job. When a track is too hard, you see horses struggling, stinging in front, and when it's too soft, they get real loose in the back. My horses have shown none of that. They've all handled the surface beautifully."
Without much coaxing, Lehman continued to describe what makes it so good. "Right now it has a lot of bounce to it," he said. "It's a very forgiving, very even, very safe race track. I was standing by the rail listening to the horses run by, and you could barely hear their hooves hitting the track. It's got a great cushion and like I said, it's the best it's been in 20 years."
Lehman was not alone in his praise of the new strip. He said "everybody I've talked to" had positive things to say about the track and he really looks forward to the upcoming fall season here.
Another top trainer, Ned Allard, echoed Lehman's sentiment. "It had been awhile since the track had been re-done and it was definitely welcomed. They've done a wonderful job out there. The track has a good cushion, it's very even and uniform, and is a very safe race track. I look forward to getting all of my horses out there training again." (source)
Hopefully this will go hand-in-hand with the recent renaissance in Philly area horse racing.
I'm a little worried about
I'm a little worried about slots showing up there... Philadelphia Park is actually pretty nice as it is for watching horse racing.
If you've ever been to Delaware Downs, where they have slots, that park is sort of depressing.
I'm actually not a real big
I'm actually not a real big fan of slots myself.
It's sort of sad to see the
It's sort of sad to see the park getting even nicer, knowing that in a few short years it will become a slot parlor.