Even while bulldozers and construction crews work to make Sportsman’s Park accommodate auto racing, a small corner of the Stickney, Ill., facility will remain the preserve of the Thoroughbred horse.

On Sept. 30, Sportsman’s Park officials unveiled a 200-foot-long, 70-foot-wide “mock- up” of a new Thoroughbred racing surface. The revolutionary design is intended to let Sportsman’s Park go back and forth between auto racing and horse racing as the seasons change, starting in the year 2000.

To accomplish that, the track will be installed for horse racing and removed for auto racing. When it’s in place, part of the horse racing track will be laid over the asphalt of the auto track. While that sounds problematic at best, Churchill Downs track superintendent Raymond (Butch) Lehr said it not only will work, but eventually could become a model for the industry. Lehr is as a consultant on the project.

“Many tracks around the country experience problems with the(base) of their (racing surfaces),” Lehr said. “I can assure you the new track at Sportsman’s Park will have a base that, in my opinion, will be second to none. The design of the track from the bottom up will have no room for flaws in the base or the possibility of losing the base