Balmoral Park in Crete, Illinois has announced that its one-mile track is undergoing a complete renovation for its August 9 re-opening.
Balmoral Park is currently renovating its oval with the help of noted trackman Greg Coon of Charles E. Coon & Sons Inc., Tech 3 Consulting Group and T. J. Lambrecht Construction, which is the company that performed the original work back in 1998 when Balmoral switched from a five-eighths mile track to a one-mile oval.
"The changes being made to the track will once again make Balmoral Park's oval one of the best in country not only for the horses racing over the track but also for the horsemen who train here on a day to day basis," said Balmoral Park president John Johnston.
"This has always been one of the fastest tracks in all of North America and it should be even faster, safer and easier on the horses after this work is completed. Handicappers should also see a much greater degree of consistency thanks to these changes."
Construction work began on Tuesday, July 8 and is expected to be completed by Friday, July 25 so that horsemen can begin jogging and training over the new surface before the start of the upcoming meet.
Among the changes being made to the track are a complete reshaping of the first turn as well as adding seven degrees of banking. The second turn will also be banked seven degrees to add to the consistency of the surface. A new 'base' surface will be put down on the backstretch and the second turn as well. Three-degree banking will be made to both the backstretch and the homestretch as well.