Ballarat gets a sprint lane

A sprint lane will be installed at the Ballarat and District Trotting Club during late October, and it will be in use for the meetings there on November 2 and November 9 before ID22 qualifiers on November 26.

BDTC CEO Paul Rowse said having a sprint lane was part of the Inter Dominion series terms and conditions.

“As per in 2018, we will have a temporary sprint lane put in at Ballarat and the length of the sprint lane will be around about 190m,” Rowse said.

“The length of the Ballarat straight is 230m, the width of the straight is 18.3m. So the width of the sprint lane is about 1.4m or 1.5m – which is about industry standard – but very much a one-horse sprint lane.”

HRV track manager Jordan Robinson and curator Tom Byrne will oversee the works at Bray Raceway, which last had a sprint lane installed for the 2018 Inter Dominion heats. Back then, the lane was in operation for one meeting prior to heat night before it was removed.

A sprint lane provides room for horses to move to the inside of the leader in the home straight at the end of the final lap of a race.

Bray Raceway is one of just a few tracks in Victoria without an established passing lane.

Ballarat will open the ID22 series with qualifiers on November 26 before further heats at Shepparton on November 29 and Geelong on December 3. The pacing and trotting grand finals will then be conducted at Tabcorp Park Melton on December 10.

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