Synthetic surfaces allow racing to take place in bad weather conditions, when it may otherwise be cancelled, and for this reason are sometimes referred to as All Weather surfaces. Manufacturers of synthetic racetrack surface materials promote the fact that synthetic tracks have drainage attributes that are better than natural surfaces. There is also evidence that synthetic surfaces are significantly safer than dirt in terms of equine breakdowns, though there are many variables that come into play. The first synthetic surface used for thoroughbred racing was
Tropical Park's Tartan turf, a synthetic surface similar to
Astroturf installed in 1966. Tartan turf was never a success with horsemen. The first synthetic surface to replace dirt in the United States was installed at
The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in
Washington, Pennsylvania in 1963. This surface, called Tartan, was found to be unsatisfactory and removed and replaced with a traditional limestone surface in 1975. ==References==