LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The gap is gone. Churchill Downs announced on Monday that it has entered into an agreement with an Australian company to construct a 20-horse gate for exclusive use in the Kentucky Derby.
The Derby has been run using a traditional 14-position starting gate, plus a four-position auxiliary gate for each of the past 22 years and 54 times total since being first used in 1942.
The new gate from Steriline Racing will go into use in this year's Derby, and ensures a uniform start for the largest field in American racing.
"We believe that a new custom-made, 20-stall starting gate will deliver a clean start for all horses and enhance safety for horses and riders in the Kentucky Derby," said Mike Ziegler, Executive Director of Racing for Churchill Downs Inc. "We’re thrilled to partner with Australia's Steriline Racing to supply this new starting gate at Churchill Downs."
The new gate is due to be completed by early April. It is 65 feet wide and will fit easily within the 120-foot space on the racetrack at the quarter-mile pole for the start of the Kentucky Derby.
All starting gates at Churchill Downs are outfitted with high-quality foam padding from Best Padâ„¢, a leading innovator of safety products for the horse racing industry that protect both jockeys and horses from injury. This seamless padding is applied to all metal surfaces of the starting gate, including front and rear poles, face plates, handrails, superstructure, and pontoons.
Steriline Racing specializes in the design, manufacture, installation and service of starting gates, running rail, winning posts, stewards towers and other racetrack equipment. It has supplied equipment for tracks around the world.
"It has been great working with the Churchill Downs team," Steriline Racing CEO John Fargher said. "They wanted to see one of our larger gates in action, so we traveled to the UK, where every starting gate in that country has been manufactured by Steriline. . . . We are excited to be a part of the most famous race in all of America."
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