Summer Racing?

[Wingman]

Peter Williams, trainer of hot Favourite Desert Lightning said this morning he was on a permanent weather watch Friday night, Saturday morning. I was puzzled. It is Summer, dry, little rain recently. Early in the afternoon at Otaki there was one brief heavy shower and a few light showers but really nothing of concern...or so we thought. Mr Williams knew what most of us initially did not know, the track had been heavily overwatered and any rain would be to the detriment of the track. The drone shots of the track once racing got underway showed  a grass cover and colour  that looked like it had been photo shopped to display a perfect Spring day, except it is peak Summer. 

We move forward to the Trackside presenters waxing lyrical about how the Trackside G1 Classic will be shown live in Hong Kong and showcase one of our great WFA races of which this year 7 of the 10 runners are G1 winners. The race is a farce, Belclare, firm track horse,  makes the pace but goes extremely wide, Desert Lightning loved the first 200m down the shute on firm ground and despite being erratic showed his class battling on (yes being facetious) on good Summer footing. La Crique is more versatile with ground conditions and handles the conditions well after definitely running the race of an improver first up from a brief spell. How much more enjoyable would this race had been if raced on a genuine Summer track. How many punters here and offshore are going to say as I did, "Stuff this" and not bet and how many will not get involved again because they did bet their hard earned on a $2.20 shot that could never win because of the idiots who currently run our industry and insist on over watering summer tracks. Staying with the idiots at NZTR do they really not understand  that mid December to mid March is what the racing industry is all about. Summer racing, picnics, yearling inspections, yearling sales and above all convivial times on good to fast tracks on mainly hot days. They really are the fun police and must be seen off. The final word goes to the trainer of the beaten fav who said prior to the running of the G1 at Otaki "Had the track been downgraded I would have scratched"

 

[billy connolly]

Absolutely correct, quality horses shouldn't be racing that far from the (inside) rail in February.

Makes a mockery of summer racing, especially at Group 1 level.

[TAB For Ever]

Hindsight is great but $2.20 is very short in what was a very good field PLUS the track was watered during week and some rain was expected on the day.

Mick Guerin has been writing some excellent previews of late and he talked about the track and based his preview on the chances of Puntura and  gun trainer Robbie Patterson. They both liked Puntura's chances !

Patterson told him Otaki waters a lot and the track tends to hold the water , plus horses come out to middle of track in straight.

He clearly stated the track holds its water hence the summer track has 'give' in it.'

IMO summed it up well.

Patterson said in R5 The Underbelly would win...it won by 4L and paid $2.30.

But his best bet of the day was R9 The Hottie.......it won well and paid  $3.20.

The mare , La Crique , is no mug ,she is a genuine Group 1 horse. Ran 2nd in Derby last year and 4th in Group 1 mares race in Aussie.

No mug !

[Shad]

Interesting we wouldn't have eacedcon many dry tracks this summer, mostly always seem to be soft, frustrating if your after a hard n fast one.

[Wingman]

TAB For Ever you are totally missing the point. We should not have to factor overwatering into our betting analysis in Summer. The fuckwits at NZTR insist on having a track overwatered and it is playing havoc with punters confidence. It also weakens the constitution of the track, many of which are already neglected race tracks. 

[TAB For Ever]

6 minutes ago, Wingman said:

TAB For Ever you are totally missing the point. We should not have to factor overwatering into our betting analysis in Summer. The fuckwits at NZTR insist on having a track overwatered and it is playing havoc with punters confidence. It also weakens the constitution of the track, many of which are already neglected race tracks. 

Not really Inga the winger !

Just adding to the thread with something I read ,on Friday with a lot of interest .

The summer hard and fast tracks are discouraged because if there is drizzle on day they become slippery and risk abandonment. And NZ's weather getting more erratic  year on year !

Plus 'rock hard' tracks not so kind on the horse and most trainers not in favour !

Calling the race a farce a bit excessive.......all week the track had been rated as slow from what I can recall.

[Wingman]

The race and other races on the day were a farce because the inside was totally off and the only reason the track was rated slow  most of the week is due to NZTR mandates re watering. There is a big difference between watering to achieve grass cover avoiding rock hard tracks you allude to and creating slush. The bottom line is executive demands are overriding hands on track management

[Special Agent]

I remember La Crique being scratched from a Trentham fixture due to the track being too wet for her liking so, I'd suggest Otaki's surface may not have been ideal for her either.

Rain was forecast.  Some fell on the day, some today.  Who was to know which day and how much would actually hit the course?

I agree watering should be to grow the grass, not change the condition.  However, as race meetings have been put off in very recent times, and on other tracks it has not been a safe racing surface, under the circumstances I think Otaki did okay.  Maybe the RIU need to be more accountable on the day with keeping true track conditions up to date on a regular basis throughout the meeting, for the sake of connections and ounters alike.