Now inside the three-month mark until the start of the upcoming 102-date meet, management at Turf Paradise is checking off projects on its list of off-season improvements prior to the arrival of horses in October for the Nov. 10-May 2 season.
Turf Paradise general manager Vincent Francia said at Thursday's Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) meeting that Sept. 16 is the target date for the beginning of the annual main-track renovation.
“It may take anywhere from 10 days to two weeks because we take all the old dirt off and then put the new dirt down to get ready for the horses to come in in the beginning of October,” Francia said.
“And prior to them coming in, there will be a representative from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to come out and look over all the work that's been done on the main track and to give us approval to be open for training,” Francia said.
Francia also said Turf Paradise will be shoring up structural aspects of the property based on recommendations from an outside engineering firm's recent report. A focal point will be 10 barns on the backside that have not been significantly overhauled since they were built in 1955.
Brian Duncan, the AZRC's racing enforcement and operations manager, said he visited the track Aug. 12 and will be there again Aug. 15 to check on progress of the work that is already underway.
“I did look at the main rail and the quarter chute,” Duncan said. “They are complete with the exception of just being painted now. The three-quarters chute still needs everything–panels put down, all the caulking and painting as well. I did not check the turf rails. They were watering and cutting it, so I will be checking that [Friday] when I do this as well. I did visit the paddock stalls. The ceiling is complete–painted, redone.”
Duncan said he did not personally see the updated sauna in the jockeys' quarters, but that track management had provided him with photographs showing its completion.
Francia said the work on the rails will be finished in the following order: inner rail on the main track, outer rail on the main track, then the outer rail on the turf course.
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