Newmarket first UK Turf course to use new Steriline starting stalls

Newmarket´s July Racecourse will tomorrow become the first turf course in Britain to use the new Steriline starting stalls, made in Australia. The stalls, which have been extensively trialled at Wolverhampton and are now also being used at Southwell, have been modified and improved in some aspects of their design by the Jockey Club following early trials.

'We are delighted to be the first turf course to use these new stalls tomorrow,' commented Newmarket´s Clerk of the Course, Michael Prosser. 'It is very appropriate that it should be taking place at Newmarket as we were the first course in the country to use starting stalls when they were very first introduced.

'Our parent company, Racecourse Holdings Trust, is buying a number of sets of the new stalls which Racetech will operate for us. The 16 bay set that we are using tomorrow is the first one to be operational. We will use them for 7 of tomorrow´s 8 races - the other race has more than 16 runners, so we will need to use the old stalls for that. By next season we will have a 14 as well as a 16 bay set, so we will be able to use them for all our races on both courses here.'

Sim Harris, Managing Director of Racetech, said: 'There have been very positive reactions from the jockeys, trainers and stalls handlers at Wolverhampton. They are a much newer design than our old, existing stalls and are highly unlikely to jam. They are much easier to open if a horse needs rescuing, making them much safer for the horses, and they are much quieter in their operation. They are the best lightweight stalls on the market and are used in countries like Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, as well as in several European countries.

'The stalls we are using have been shipped in from Australia and are the standard Steriline dimensions, but with modifications and improvements requested by our Jockey Club.'