Newmarket Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 WTF…. Simple stuff really isn’t it? Riccarton is the joke of racing with what has gone on in the last few years… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 6 minutes ago, Newmarket said: WTF…. Simple stuff really isn’t it? Riccarton is the joke of racing with what has gone on in the last few years… A bit of competition for that claim surely? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shad Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 These things shouldn't happen but do from time to time, but so does a hell of a lot of other things in life, no matter how prefect we'd like life to be, just doesn't happen like that, the horse was well behaved, obviously they don't want to injure intentionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy connolly Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Doesn't the starter get an all-clear from elsewhere before he pulls the trigger? What is Wadley's role at the start? He's witnessed several starting debacles and always seems beyond reproach. If your attention span is limited Mr. Wadley, please fuck off back to the incompetent stewards room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 39 minutes ago, billy connolly said: Doesn't the starter get an all-clear from elsewhere before he pulls the trigger? What is Wadley's role at the start? He's witnessed several starting debacles and always seems beyond reproach. If your attention span is limited Mr. Wadley, please fuck off back to the incompetent stewards room. He didn't pull the trigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newmarket Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 The surprising thing about the whole event is why they ran the race again? Horse that just missed out winning the race, had raced the longest first attempt…. you would think at least to put race back a race instead of expecting then to race again in a 30 degree windy day 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 On 27/01/2024 at 5:54 PM, curious said: He didn't pull the trigger. No, he didn't. The starter did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 3 hours ago, Freda said: No, he didn't. The starter did! That has to be the case. The stewards' report doesn't stack up. If the gates had in fact opened spontaneously without being activated by the starter, for serious health and safety reasons, they surely could not have restarted the race, nor continued the meeting without the fault being determined and corrected. Testing that the gates opened when activated before doing so would not eliminate the risk of that happening again. So, I think either the report must be inaccurate, or they've continued the meeting on a very risky basis. Whichever, neither is a good look imo. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Yes. Good points. I am advised, by someone who knows far more than i do, that maintenance is not up to scratch. I have no idea what level of attention is acceptable, or what qualifications would be necessary. But I do know that previous starter Kevin Ogden used to check them regularly. In any case, it should not be difficult to have the starting mechanism positioned in a way that accidental tripping of the switch just can't happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newmarket Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 16 hours ago, Freda said: Yes. Good points. I am advised, by someone who knows far more than i do, that maintenance is not up to scratch. I have no idea what level of attention is acceptable, or what qualifications would be necessary. But I do know that previous starter Kevin Ogden used to check them regularly. In any case, it should not be difficult to have the starting mechanism positioned in a way that accidental tripping of the switch just can't happen. Funny how nobody in the racing game put there hand up and own their mistakes. What a crock of shit, nobody released button, of course they did. Did it work ok before that race, yes…. Did it work ok after that race, yes. Don’t get sucked in again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Yes, a lot of passing the buck in this industry. I agree with Freda. Previous Starters with obvious pride in their work and a sense of responsibility have managed to regularly check and maintain the starting gates. I would have thought that would be part of their contract. Surely the Starters of today don't just rock on up on race day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Yes - generally the ponies don't want to hurt us but if I ever saw potential for humans being collateral damage - it's the starting gates opening and 6-7 horses either side galloping off when the middle horse has a human trapped in front of it. Probably just a good thing in this last case that the horse still had the blindfold on - stood still. Assistant unscathed. Dumbfounded by the stewards' report. Gates not directed to open by the starter. if that's the truth - how come there isn't SERIOUS concern? Apparently we seem to have no idea why/how this happened - or presumably when it will next happen? If that's the case - every time an assistant is in with a horse - potentially the gates are going to open and he's going to get smashed! The report may have got one individual off the hook - but I can't see how this is a lot of comfort or the end of the story ....occupational health and safety anyone? 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 8 hours ago, jess said: Yes - generally the ponies don't want to hurt us but if I ever saw potential for humans being collateral damage - it's the starting gates opening and 6-7 horses either side galloping off when the middle horse has a human trapped in front of it. Probably just a good thing in this last case that the horse still had the blindfold on - stood still. Assistant unscathed. Dumbfounded by the stewards' report. Gates not directed to open by the starter. if that's the truth - how come there isn't SERIOUS concern? Apparently we seem to have no idea why/how this happened - or presumably when it will next happen? If that's the case - every time an assistant is in with a horse - potentially the gates are going to open and he's going to get smashed! The report may have got one individual off the hook - but I can't see how this is a lot of comfort or the end of the story ....occupational health and safety anyone? Hopefully, if the report is correct, there will be some sort of formal reassurance from the club/NZTR/RIB that the gates have been thoroughly checked before we line any more up in them next week or expose starter's assistants to undue risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 On 1/02/2024 at 1:54 PM, Special Agent said: Yes, a lot of passing the buck in this industry. I agree with Freda. Previous Starters with obvious pride in their work and a sense of responsibility have managed to regularly check and maintain the starting gates. I would have thought that would be part of their contract. Surely the Starters of today don't just rock on up on race day. The current starter is based in Dunedin. I doubt that he would see the gates from one raceday to the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 (edited) The RIB are responsible for raceday safety matters aren't they? Surely they require assurance that both the track and gates are safe before commencing racedays. Or, have we reverted to the crash test dummy approach to doing that? Recent gate disasters coupled with multiple known (or should have been known) unsafe tracks seem to suggest so. Edited February 2 by curious 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 (edited) Good work! Canterbury Racing 27th January 2024 – Race 2 INGLEWOOD STUD AT KARAKA 2024 1200 Metres Due to the malfunction of the starting gates in this race with the cause still undetermined the Canterbury Jockey Club have decided that until Stereline staff can inspect the gates used on this day and conduct a full audit with scheduled maintenance also being done the alternate set of gates the club has available will be used for the next 2 meetings at least Edited February 3 by curious 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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