A racetrack in Berlin

I couldn´t get the name, but there is a similar one to the north-east. It is a 1200m oval running clockwise, with 320m straights, and it seems that there are two distinct surfaces, one on the inside and one on the outside. Also there is an inner track too. It is curious that neither this one nor the other I saw in Berlin have chutes.


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Los Alamitos Race Course

This is a quarter-horse racing venue in Los Angeles, California. It has a 1000m dirt oval with a 500m straight and a 900m chute off the backstretch.


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Hipodromo de Las Piedras

This is my other hometown racetrack. Located in the border between Montevideo department and Canelones department (you can clearly see the river that marks the border passing through the track!) this is a triangular dirt track with a 700m chute (it almost is a straight course), a 1300m chute and a 1500m chute. The total circumference of the track is just a tick above 1500m. The stretch is in the upper part of the picture. It is a small racetrack, but it was the center of Uruguay´s racing world while the main racetrack (Maroñas) was closed between 1997 and 2003.


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Hipodromo de La Plata

This will be a straightforward post, so, this is in La Plata, in Argentina.

Track surface: Dirt
Track Circumference: 2050m
Chute: 1700m


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Since there is no chute in the far turn the sprints are run at least at 1100m and not less, since that involves starting in the turn itself. Also, there are no races between 1700m and 2100m. Which are, indeed, not-so-common distances.

Hipodromo Argentino de Palermo

This is one of the two main tracks in Argentina. Located near the city centre in Buenos Aires, the nation´s capital, this is a dirt triangular track with a circumference of little less than 2400m, or 12 furlongs. It features a 1000m straight, and also 1800m and 2200m small chutes. The 2000m races start in the little straight to the right of the picture. A railroad track runs alongside the backstretch.


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This is a 2500m race run there, the Gran Premio Nacional G.I won by brazilian Eu Tamben.

If you look to the north, you´ll see there is an airport less than a kilometre away from the backstretch.

Hipodromo Independencia

This is a dirt oval located in Rosario, Argentina. It has an oval of around 1785m, with chutes for 1000m, 1600m, 1700m, and one that looks like it measures 2350m, so I guess they use it for 2300m races. It is interesting to see how the racetrack is the only park in the middle of a big city.


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Nad Al Sheba

This is one of the best racecourses in the world, specially for the elevated purses it gives out, including the world`s richest dirt race, the Dubai World Cup (G.I) ran over 2000m every spring in the international meeting, where several G.I millionare races take place. This track is shaped like a triangle, with an outer dirt track featuring a 1200m straight, and also 1600m and 2000m chutes, and it is 2250m around. The inner turf track has also 1200m, 1600m and 2000m chutes, though the 1200m chute is not used for those distances but to accomodate 2800m to 3200m races. The track seems a little narrow when compared to other big dirt tracks around the world, and it is 20m wide.


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The Emirates Racing Site has a nice diagram and some more info about the track.

Hipodromo Nacional de Maroñas

This is my hometown main racetrack. It is a large (2065 metres) oval, with four chutes, the one in the stretch is for 750m (3 3/4 furlong) races and for the big 2800m (14 furlong) Gran Premio de Honor G.II Stakes, which is run in the spring. Also there is a 1300m (6 1/2 furlong) chute along the far turn, a 1800m (9 furlong) chute along the backstretch and a 2000m (10 furlong) chute on the clubhouse turn. There is an inside dirt training track, and you can see the remains of the third track that was wiped out during the remodelation work that took place 6 years ago.

This track was closed from 1997 until 2003, when it was reopened. It is the main racing venue in Uruguay, and one of the most important in South America. Races are run every saturday and sunday throughout the year.

UPDATE: Maroñas added an inner Turf oval, measuring a little less than 2000m, with a 1600m inner chute on the backstretch.


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Santa Anita Racetrack

This classic west coast oval has it all: the dirt oval with a special chute, the inner turf, and the famous downhill 6 1/2 furlong turf course, that starts straight, takes a right and then makes a sweeping left hand turn, crosses over the dirt track and finishes. The dirt oval measures around a mile and the grass oval a little over 7 furlongs. The track has one dirt chute for 7 furlong races and another one for 10 furlong races.

The most usual distances are 6 to 7 furlongs, 1 1/16 miles and 1 1/8 miles over the dirt and 1 mile, 1 1/8 mile and 6 1/2 furlongs (almost) on the turf course.

North America´s longest turf race, the San Juan Capistrano Handicap, is run here over a distance of almost 1 3/4 miles. The race starts at the top of the downhill turf course and then the horses go around one extra time around the turf oval.


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