A new multi-million synthetic training track at Warwick Farm will give trainers the `best of both worlds' in surfaces and could be good enough for barrier trials, trainers say.
The new $4.5 million Pro-Ride training surface is a combination of selected sands, binders and cushioning fibres and is expected to provide a low-maintenance, all-weather track to bear the treatment of up to 700 horses a day.
Warwick Farm based trainer Peter Snowden said while the new track was a long time coming, its profile was "outstanding".
"What it can do for our horses and the longevity that we can get out of them will have a big bearing on what we do with it," Snowden said.
Snowden said it would complement other surfaces.
"It's given us the best of both worlds, having a great artificial track and having good surfaces on our grass again."
Jockey Nathan Berry was also full of praise.
"Working behind other horses, you can see the track bounce back, it is virtually unmarked," he said in a statement.
"I felt like I was gliding along - it's like working on clouds."
Rick Worthington, president of the Warwick Farm Trainers Association, said there would be benefits in the new track for both horses and trainers.
"It means that no matter what the weather, it's all systems go.
"The cushion is better for the horse's legs and takes a lot of pressure off the grass surface."
Worthington added the new surface would be good enough to hold barrier trials on.
"The way it's been built, the complexity of it, it's really been done very, very well."
The upgrade is the latest in a string of new developments for the western Sydney track, which include $40 million of total work.