Action is to be taken to improve the racing surface at Ascot. The Horserace Betting Levy Board is to give the racecourse a Stg £550,000 interest-free loan to install a moveable turf crossing at Ascot's Kennel Gate road crossing.
The move is an attempt to prevent horses jumping the temporary crossing and to provide them with a continuous and level racing surface.
A prototype developed by the Sports Turf Research Institute has been successfully tested on a Newmarket gallop and involves a section of turf constructed in a steel tray and moved on rails.
Ascot chief executive Douglas Erskine-Crum said: 'We are delighted that the Levy Board is prepared to support innovation in British racing.
'This is an important part of Ascot's objective to remove road and pedestrian crossings from the track.'
Work on the crossing, which will cost Stg £1 million in total, is expected to start this summer and will be complete for the 2001 Flat season.
