Freda

Towards the end, the undulations were, indeed, quite bad. I had one particular horse who used to belt the shit out of his hocks whenever he raced there, you could see his action go to pieces when in the straight. OK, only one horse from a small team...but he never touched any other time, whether in work or on another racetrack, and he had quite a few starts. There were quite a lot of conflicting opinions on how to remedy said problem, one from one of the senior course workers - a very experienced guy - he reckoned the best and most cost effective option would have been to have removed the grass layer, graded the thing level, and replaced with new turf.

He also said he wrote a manual on the upkeep of the track, which first manager( Rob Lory) followed to the best of his ability, but that subsequent managers didn't - or that possibly the manual was misplaced . Anyway, the use of discs and vertidrainers ( he said) had allowed the clay base to mix with the upper layers, leading to gluey, heavy muck when wet and very hard ground when dry. And don't shoot the messenger!

Yep, the undulations were ( from memory) the main reason for restoration of the track, and they were significant. I had occasion to speak with Duncan Laing of the company which did the work , he confirmed that the specifications were provided by the RIB( as it was then) and followed to the letter. It seemed to me that the topsoil allowed wouldn't have grown decent carrots...but what I know about building racetracks is very insignificant.

One's weather did too...but it still has to materialize.

Pitty's mate has no doubt been on the blower to make sure the sprinklers are used

Sure. One is heading for the paddock but we were hoping for maybe one more run beforehand. The other not a Riccarton horse I dont think so not really bothered. If I had a smart firm tracker I think I'd be quite happy.

I'm not disagreeing with you in a general sense _ but I know how quickly it has dried and the two I planned to run would not have been happy, rain or irrigation or not. If you have firm trackers they should be fine.

Yep.

It's dry all right, and yes, nor'westers too. I pulled two out because they wouldn't have coped.

Well, it would be a bloody speedway if they didn't water and it didn't rain...

'Cos if they don't it will be a F1 by Friday...and it was supposed to rain Monday and didn't....

I can't agree with the first part of your first sentence...but absolutely, to the rest of your post.

You'll have to spell it out bit by bit....they still don't get it.

Not unexpected I wouldn't have thought. He will be well looked after, cherished in fact...which is more than can be said for so many others, less high-profile but no less deserving.

You know full well, Mr Reefton, that the track closure part of the report echoes the same mantra from 20 years ago when clubs were 'graded' as a means to starve them of income and 'redistribute' to the important and deserving ones. You know, those clubs that can not put on a racemeet at the moment because their tracks are stuffed. Laurie Sutherland illustrated that very well at the time, although got precious little acclaim for his work. And yes, well spotted re. Aus and Irish tracks.

Well done, team, awesome result for all of you, the Andertons, the South Island and that neat little grey horse.

You mean I'm ever wrong..? ?

For twenty years or more, smaller clubs have been selectively deprived of an equitable portion of turnover percentage payments....those funds channeled to some larger clubs because of their 'importance' . No argument with providing some extra funding for the black type races these clubs host - although as mardigras has been pointing out for years, funding beyond a race's capacity to earn is just not sustainable. These smaller clubs have been squeezed and squeezed yet with local effort and hours of community and volunteer work, have managed to hang in- so far . I would imagine if these clubs had had the same income opportunities as their larger cousins, there would have been ample to maintain their tracks and facilities. Looking at the superb- not- management of the racing surfaces of Ellerslie, Pukekohe and Te Rapa just to mention a few, that extra funding has been absolutely wasted. They're been sucking the tit for years....for what?

Oh ffs. .. geez I'm slow

I've got Mr C...but Mr E..?

If the total rebuild is dependant on funds from capital asset acquisition methinks there could be a long wait.

All the abovementioned clubs - inc Counties - have been the recipient of extra funding at the expense of those beleaguered ' small ' clubs ...and yet we are supposed to trust, and blithely hand over assets to the management culture that has produced these continued cock-ups ?

Hell, no....given its track record I'd be suss about allowing it to manage anything, not just money matters. But taking this on a bit, if a new body is to be created - i.e.Racing NZ - will the code bodies [ NZTR, HRNZ, GRNZ] remain in their present form, or will they be remodelled as well?

I think most agree with the hatchet being taken to the RB...but whether devolving responsibility to the codes works, will depend entirely on the structures implemented and the personnel retained.

Reefton and Curious, you'll have a better take on the legal stance of this than me...is there any reason why clubs with freehold assets, couldn't place those assets in a community trust -type arrangement, and lease the property back to conduct racing ? until such time as they are forced not to? ....and , at least as far as the south is concerned, all these track closures - which are supposed to fund infrastructure improvements- won't be able to happen until the allweather at Riccarton is built. That will hang upon the success [ or otherwise ] of the first venture at Cambridge for starters, and given that the RDF is unlikely to be usable in Christchurch city, funding has to be questionable for the proposed allweather here. We have seen on another thread that the capital realised from the sale of the Racecourse Reserve land is nowhere near what may have been thought.