The Brisbane Racing Club will introduce ‘Going Stick’ ratings at Eagle Farm tomorrow as part of a phased roll-out across Queensland.
Since late 2016, Racing Queensland has been trialling the track rating technology, which is already used at more than 60 racecourses across the globe including 13 in Victoria and four in NSW, with a view to enhancing track ratings with a more accurate source of data.
In the New Year, the BRC will also publish Going Stick ratings at Doomben from January 1, while the Sunshine Coast Turf Club (January 25) and Townsville Turf Club (February 4) will follow shortly after.
Further testing will continue at the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Mackay and Cairns before the Going Stick ratings are adopted more broadly.
Developed in the United Kingdom by TurfTrax, the Going Stick uses a numerical scale of 1-15 to measure two items. They are:
- Penetration: The force taken to fully push the Going Stick into the ground (which replicates the track surface hardness) and;
- Shear: The force taken to pull the Going Stick back to an angle of 45 degrees away from the ground (which quantifies the strength of the turf root system anchorage).
Once three readings of penetration and shear are taken in each section of the track, they are averaged to give a numerical value and going statement derived from the value.
The results are then published as an interactive racecourse map and has been designed to provide punters with more information than penetrometer readings.
Click here for further information on TurfTrax including the Going Stick.