Failure of the £1.3m all-weather track

The introduction of the all-weather surface was supposed to make racing like the old Windmill Theatre with its motto "We Never Close". But it hasn't exactly worked out like that.

Lingfield was a spectacular failure last Saturday. The only race meeting left on in the country had to be called off at the last minute because of problems with the sand-based track. That cancellation further drove home the fact there is no such thing as an all-weather course.

Indeed it was the fourth time in 11 years that Lingfield, which is generally recognised to be the best of the three "dirt" tracks ahead of Southwell and Wolver-hampton, had lost out. Once it fell to fog, which you can hardly legislate for (the judge must be able to see the furlong pole from his box), on another occasion it was high winds (Frankie Dettori came into the weighing room after nearly being blown away, screeching "Itta no safe outa there!"), and after a heavy snowfall where the course was perfectly clear but no one could get to it by road.

Lingfield's Equitrack surface - laid at a cost of £1.3million in 1989 - is supposed not to freeze, and be able to shrug off water. In addition, when it snows a JCB should be able to push the white stuff to one side. Sadly, a lot of harrowing before Saturday led to sand being shifted towards the far rails, leaving an almost bare strip of hard ground in the centre.

The Equitrack consists of silica sand bound together with polymer oil. The base of the track is laid of this mixture compacted to a depth of four inches called the "pad" and off which water drains to the outside of the course. Then there is another layer of the same substance of two inches called the "cushion", which, as its name suggests, helps to cushion the impact of horses' hooves.

Fibresand is the surface used at Southwell and Wolverhampton although it has not prevented cancellations at either track. It is a blended mixture of silica sand and synthetic rot-proof fibres. The sand has been carefully graded to a specific mix of particle sizes and washed to remove all residues.