The turn of winter into spring has melted the racetracks at an uneven pace. Last week, the start time of trotting was reduced almost every day, and the adjustment may still be in various parts of Finland.
Transfers of trot start times began this spring one and a half weeks ago, when Vermon on March 12th. driven 75-trot was postponed from day to night. An-Dorra won the Espoo Prize, which started at 22.26. Pekka Salonen / Hippos of Finland
The condition of the tracks may fluctuate over a very short period of time as the temperature fluctuates.
In recent weeks, the start time of many trotters has been postponed due to the condition of the track.
Due to melting, only one nutrient has been canceled so far this spring.
Turning winter into spring is traditionally a challenging time for racetracks. As trails frozen in winter begin to thaw, their condition may fluctuate as melting progresses, and the trails often do not melt evenly. In the spring, the raves sometimes have to be canceled because the conditions are not safe for competition.
This spring, only one race has been canceled due to track conditions, the Lappeenranta races on the calendar last Sunday. Master of Southern Finland, working as the master of the main line in Vermo Juha Keskimaunu says the situation in Lappeenranta was hopeless for Sunday.
– It was not about measures, but about the fact that the heat rose so high. The situation was impossible in terms of organizing the trotters, Keskimaunu says.
Usually, the aim is to find another venue for the raves, but according to Keskimaunu, the situation was also difficult on other lines near Lappeenranta.
– We could have been transferred to Vermoo, but the transfer was found to be too far away. There are many competitors in Lappeenranta even further away from Eastern Finland, and there would certainly have been a lot of omissions.
The crowd was on a night shift
Juha Keskimaunu, the main railway master in southern Finland, says that the melting situation in the south is already well under way. The coming frost period will freeze the tracks again, but according to Keskimaunu, the second thaw will be faster and smoother. Ville Toivonen
New phenomena this spring have been the postponement of the start time of trotting. In the past, only the start times of individual trotting days have been postponed in Finland, but last week the start dates of trotting on Monday in Jyväskylä, on Tuesday in Tampere, on Wednesday in Vermo, on Thursday in Seinäjoki and on Friday in Turku.
When the Sunday treatments in Lappeenranta were canceled, the Saturday treatments in Joensuu were the only ones that were run at the originally planned time.
Evening treatments normally start at 6 pm, but with the transfers the treatments started at 7 pm According to Juha Keskimaunu, the hourly transfers had a significant effect. As the sun goes down, the temperature drops quickly and the melted track during the day is quickly made safe to drive.
– When the air turns from plus to frost, a quarter of an hour can be a decisive time for the condition of the track, Keskimaunu describes.
Delaying the start time of the trotting to the background groups of horses has meant getting into a night shift. When the trot starts only at seven, the last start is run largely after ten p.m. According to the average taste, the situation has been welcomed.
– The feedback has been 100% positive. As the day gets longer, people will feel better when they have been able to drive in safe conditions.
The challenges are moving north
According to Juha Keskimaunu, the tracks in southern Finland are starting to melt away from the heat of last weekend. The challenges are slowly starting to move further north. Master of Northern Finland, Master of the Oulu Racetrack Antti Jaara says the situation is very variable.
– The area is from Jyväskylä to Rovaniemi, but the situation of the tracks is not even dependent on the latitudes. There is an ice rink in Kuopio and Jyväskylä is already in the melting phase, even though they are quite close to each other, Jaara says.
In the next few days, the temperatures will be quite high everywhere, but there will be a back winter and new frosts for the rest of the week.
– The situation changes when we go back to the frost. The tracks are now melting at different rates, while some already have a brown track with a sandy surface and others still have snow on the surface. The longer the time for the surface repair of the track, the more challenging the melting times are, Antti Jaara explains.