A state-of-the-art running rail for Tauherenikau racecourse may not make the horses run faster but it will make it safer for them and the jockeys aboard them.
Yesterday the course was abuzz with volunteers installing a $50,000 Simtrack rail, imported from South Australia and specially designed for racing safety.
The hardy plastic rail can withstand huge buffeting from the elements but when a horse careers into it, pins located within the structure sheer off, collapsing the rail and lessening the impact.
Wairarapa Racing Club president Wayne Thurston said Masterton Racing Club, which also races at Tauherenikau, had contributed and the old zinc/aluminium and galvanised pipe rail was handed to them for use at the Opaki training track.
The new rail is higher than its predecessor and was half-funded by government through a grants scheme to the racing industry.
