Hollywood calls for TurfTrax
TurfTrax Chairman, Steve Bird, will be among delegates travelling stateside for British horseracing’s first ever trade mission to the United States which coincides with the 40th anniversary Breeders’ Cup Championships at Santa Anita Park, Los Angeles, California.
The four-day event led by Great British Racing International under the auspices of the UK’s Minister for Exports, Department for Business and Trade, Lord Offord, provides opportunities for a select group of UK-based companies to establish relationships with key sports stakeholders ahead of US racing’s showcase fixture on Friday 3 & Saturday 4 November.
Steve Bird said, “TurfTrax has a strong presence in Australia, New Zealand and throughout Europe and our focus now is on extending our existing commercial relationships in the US.
“I am looking forward to joining the other delegates from the UK, who include a number of our existing clients, in meeting with stakeholders in this vast and enormously important sports data market.”
The itinerary includes an opportunity to watch track work at Santa Anita on Friday morning when attendees may well see a core TurfTrax product in operation.
TurfTrax GoingStick readings have been available for all Breeders’ Cup Turf races since the device was adopted by Breeders’ Cup Inc. in 2019 in recognition of the increasing need for an international standard turf surface measurement.
Speaking on a visit to Newmarket Joshua Christian, Breeders’ Cup Vice-President of Racing said, “The TurfTrax GoingStick is going to be a great way for us to communicate with trainers on this side of the pond exactly what the going is, and we will have the maps to prove it. It’s an analytical way to view it rather than just saying it’s good ground.”
TurfTrax Managing Director, Mike Maher, will be at Santa Anita to support the track management team and collect additional data which will be used for the further development of the next generation GoingStick.
He said, “Working with Breeders’ Cup Inc. has been a fantastic experience. The championships are unique in the sense that they are staged at a different venue each year.
“As in the UK each track has its own individual characteristics and the GoingStick readings and GoingMaps help track managers to communicate a scientifically generated global standard assessment of the ground relatable to both local and international horsemen.”