What is All Weather Racing?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Benjamin_Street]Benjamin Street

While you are probably more than well versed in what horse racing is, there is a chance that you have never heard of the sport of all weather horse racing. Much like regular horse racing, all weather racing, as the name implies takes place all season long regardless of the weather that Mother Nature decides to throw at the racers at any given time during the year. The surfaces that the horses run on are usually made up of Fibresand or Polytrack.

Fibresand is usually considered the slower of the two surfaces and requires the horse as well as the jockey. Races run on this surface usually produce results similar to those run on turf or soft ground. The runners usually finish the race strung out and times are usually slower than those on the Polytrack surface.

Unlike Fibresand, Polytrack is considered a fairer surface, particularly because it’s less jarring and it offers hardly any kickback. Since Polytrack is so much kinder to horses, many US states are opting to have their dirt tracks ripped up and replaced with Polytrack.

While all weather racing may now seem like it has been around for ages, in reality it has only been in existence since the 1980′s. All weather racing was originally designed for national hunt racing and it was in the 80′s that the racing authority made the decision that they wanted to keep racing going, even in the rain and frost. In order to keep the racing going, they needed to utilize an artificial surface that would allow the horses to run when turf running was not an option.

The first surfaces that were used were Fibresand and Equitrack, and while these surfaces were supposed to be kinder to the horses after hurdle jumping, the stats showed that more horses finished lame when running on these surfaces which pretty much put an end to all weather jumping. Regardless of the reasoning why, all season jumping was canceled permanently and all weather racing was put in its place.

While this type of racing gives horse racing enthusiasts access to the racing they love all season long, it has had a hard time shaking its bad image, simply because many thought that the horses that ran on these other surfaces were lesser creatures that could not win running on turf. This image caused many to form the opinion that all weather racing was a lesser form of racing that prevented many from becoming interested in the sport.

Twelve years after the start of all weather racing and opinions are beginning to change, but there is still a stigma associated with the sport. Many still will not bet on the sport simply because they perceive the quality of the horses that run in these races as poor, regardless of the large sums of money and the quality of races that are now run on the surfaces.

This is just a brief history into the background of all season racing. While it may have had a rough start it has the promise of becoming a popular sport, if only it can shake the negative stigma that has been attached to it for so long.

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