Contrary to what was announced at the end of last season, the laser start will not be operational this Sunday, March 6, for the first meeting of the trotting season at the Chartres racecourse.
“Once again, because of the Covid, this work has taken a long time,” explains Jean-Luc Thirouin, president of the Chartres horse racing company. “The poles have only just been delivered and installed. The laser cells and cameras still need to be installed.”
“The starting area is already taking shape”
Technically, this installation should be operational in the spring. “In May, probably,” explains Jean-Luc Thirouin, indicating that “the starting area is already taking shape. The fence is in place, and the arbors will be planted these days along Avenue Jean-Mermoz”.
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“As regards the laser start, I want to do some tests with trainers to see what happens, to position the cells correctly”, announces the president. But it will be necessary to wait until October for this laser start to come into operation.
“It’s better to take your time and make it a success than to do anything. This is the reason why we prefer to test the laser start during TDC races
. In this case during the meetings of October 23 and 30”
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By this date, the start of the races will still be elastic. “It is above all for animal welfare that we are asked to start with lasers rather than rubber bands,” comments the president. “A horse that takes the rubber band in its legs, it hurts”.
The light beam from the laser, on the other hand, is of course painless for horses. “But the number of false starts should be much higher,” notes Jean-Luc Thirouin. “As soon as the chest of a horse exceeds the beam before the start, it triggers a bell”.
Chartres racecourse hosts the 14th and last meeting of the season
For the first time in Chartres, anti-doping controls had been carried out before the race, on Sunday November 21, 2021. In addition to the controls carried out at the finish of each race, three horses had undergone a sample before even taking part in the events. in which they were engaged. These checks had turned out to be negative, but this type of check should increase this season.
More anti-doping controls
“It is in any case one of the wishes of the new president of the Trot, Jean-Pierre Barjon, and I think it is a very good measure”, comments Jean-Luc Thirouin. Even if, technically, it is quite complicated. Because you have the right to use certain products but when you use them, you have to respect a certain period of time. And sometimes it plays out for a few hours.
