Prominent Canterbury Owner Calls For ALL Polytrack Racing To Cease in NZ

[Wandering Eyes]

                                                                     18th September 2024

 

Introduction:

On behalf of many owners who have approached me with grave concerns about the safety of our 3 poly tracks in NZ, namely Riccarton, Awapuni & Cambridge, I have been asked to carry out a private investigation, detailed below. In essence we are concerned about the carnage that has been exposed by way of inviting owner feedback through a Social Media Facebook page called Thoroughbred Chat NZ. For clarity, as the author of this report, I own 70 Thoroughbred horses located in the Hawkes Bay, Canterbury, Victoria and in NSW.  35 of them now two and three year olds in their racing development phase.

Like most of those who contributed to this investigation, nearly all of us are supporters of poly track surfaces for winter racing, training and trial/jumpout education but only if they are safe and FIT FOR PURPOSE. We thank Winston Peters for his support of racing in bringing about outsourced funding to enable us to have this wet weather option for our high value horses.

As part of the investigation I have spoken with horse ambulance staff, re-homers, track maintenance people with decades of experience, jockeys, trainers and the owners who have supported us in this investigation … but more particularly I have referred this matter to offshore & local experts [concussion tests included] and have received reports that have confirmed the concerns that were easily arrived at.

The most concerning aspect of my inquiries is that nearly all contributors to my inquiry wanted to remain confidential because they fear authoritative reprisals for speaking out about the harm that these tracks have brought to our Jockeys and our horses. For them, I will respect their wishes in holding back numerous communications I have had with them to protect them because I have identified a number of actions that could be described as bullying and blame shedding, in one case a licence holder being threatened to have his licence withdrawn.

In short, this is a serious issue of human and animal welfare.

 

SUMMARY FINDINGS:

There are a multitude of factors that we would like to bring to the attention of those responsible for the accumulative deaths and injuries to riders and our horses this last 2 years since the 3 poly tracks were installed. 

For the sake of simplicity, the primary concern is the growing number of horses that have broken their legs [various complications] on Raceday through lack of cushion and consistency on these tracks, many resulting in the horses being put down. The actual numbers are difficult to ‘finite’ because while the recorded deaths might say 7 for Riccarton that have occurred shortly after a racing, jumpout or trials event, many have returned to their stables to be found days later with debilitating injuries that, in some cases, make them unsuitable for re-homing and have had to be humanely destroyed.

Other injuries are less sinister and result in our horses being referred to veterinary care, or spelled for long periods to allow suspected hairline fractures or injuries to heal.

To put it more plainly, one Polytrack Manager in Ireland said that if their Irish bred horses were to run on a track like Riccarton, which I have now assessed, there would likely be 5 deaths per meeting. Much because their horses have lighter bone and aren’t trained on “concrete” surfaces to build up bone density. 

It was the growing number of these deaths and injuries that have underwritten the need for this investigation. Owners have been asking why their valuable horses are still falling victim to these unforgiving surfaces.

In summary, the depth and consistency of the poly surfaces is grossly inadequate.

On Sunday the 15th of September I undertook my own assessment of the Riccarton track having already heard of similar carnage at Awapuni and Cambridge tracks with their growing death & injury lists.

What I found was shocking.

Part qualified to have an opinion on this subject, I completed a unit in Soil Science at Lincoln University, I have completed many subdivisions requiring hard base roading [similar to the road mat used for polytracks] .. and I am a well accomplished rider myself who is familiar with the need for cushioned surfaces on which to gallop our horses at half pace and beyond, beach training my greatest preference in terms of ‘best’ surface conditions for cushion, consistency and sideway movement which is kind to a horses joints and fine bone structures. Particularly with young stock.

I’m an animal lover as are most of the people who contributed to this investigation. As owners we have a close relationship with our riders, and their welfare is just as important to us.

This is what I found at Riccarton to my horror. Using a pointed measuring stick with white markers at 50mm, 100mm and 200mm I walked the entire track which was 18 metres wide and nearly 1900 metres in circumference. I had a witness and ‘Secretary’ with me taking notes as I zig-zagged around the entire track taking up to 1000 measurements from inside out.

The average depth or thickness of the poly overlay [on top of a rock hard road mat] was just 50mm, in old terms, 2 inches.

If that wasn’t enough to set the bells ringing [now knowing why we have horse & jockey carnage], along the back straight I counted close to 30 patches per 100 metres where there was absolutely no poly cover to protect the horse from smashing its foot into that hard road mat surface. It improved into the front straight but then deteriorated again thereafter.

Not much more needs to be said.

This finding can only be reasonably described in conclusion as a SUICIDE TRACK, almost like playing Russian roulette with your horse, whether knowing its dangers or not prior to racing on it or galloping at speed during training, trial or jump-out events. 

This report in no way criticises the Track Manager at Riccarton or those at Cambridge & Awapuni because they can only work with the materials and machinery they’ve been given. Looking at these photos above it is patently clear that 50mm of cover is probably only a THIRD of what we need as a minimum when comparing poly tracks in Ireland, England and Australia. Polytracks in Ireland and England are on average 175mm in depth. In Australia, ranging from 100mm to 150mm with the better ones in that higher range or better.

In fact, Alan Chapman at Riccarton has probably done a remarkable job with what he has been given.

In conclusion of the summary findings, it is not difficult to arrive at a rough estimate that deaths and injuries on these poly surfaces compared to our grass surfaces [often poorly prepared too]  is likely in the region of 400% higher with Darin Balcombe suggesting to me at the recent Roadshow that it was 200% up .. which this report doesn’t intend to argue over other than to say that in the authors opinion this is the biggest cover-up I’ve seen in racing in my 40 years of participating here in New Zealand. 

I’m ashamed of what I’ve found and my greatest sympathy goes out to the family of Taiki Yanagida who lost his life at Cambridge where the undersurface was so hard that it ripped his helmet clean off. I also pass on my sympathy to our top rider Lisa Allpress whose horse broke its  leg underneath her after passing the line at Riccarton. Lisa sustained a broken back when hitting the hard rock track and spent time in hospital. 

The sub 1.22 times for mid grade horses on this track over 1400 metres tell us that the track is lightning hard.

Putting concussion injuries & deaths aside, the other aspect that concerns us owners is now understanding why our Track Managers are unable to irrigate pre race meeting or even on exercise days because it will soften and compromise the road mat with the shallow depth of poly not able to stop it from permeating its way through. The significance of this is that the dust fibres and kickback can ultimately affect the respiratory system of our valuable horses, perhaps not a lot different to asbestos poisoning. Watering of poly tracks in Australia and Europe is often standardised to avoid this.

 

SYSTEMIC FAILINGS:

Given the serious nature of the findings it is not easy to point the finger at anyone in particular. For the purpose of this investigation I will kindly list those who may wish to share some responsibility for what has occurred this last two years in regard to human and horse losses,  with injury occurrences inflated well beyond an acceptable SAFETY level.

1. Racing Industry Board

It is the authors understanding that Chief Stipendiary Steward John Oatham and his staff are responsible for checking racing surfaces before the start of each meeting, whether it’s grass or poly surface.

What I saw and witnessed during my assessment on Sunday was a track most definitely NOT fit for purpose and it shocks me that Stipendiary control have not concluded the same. The photos above [of which I have many more] show a serious shortage of poly cover across the entire track and multiple areas of rock hard bare patches.

On evidence, racing, trials or jump-outs should never have proceeded on this track.

2. Martin Collins .. polytrack installers [approx. $50 million project]

These are dual hemisphere contractors in the construction of poly track racing venues. For them there is a DUTY OF CARE that they engineer, design and build a surface that is SAFE and fit for purpose for both horse and rider.

3. NZ Thoroughbred Racing [NZTR]

As our code body there is a duty of care to protect our valuable horses and assure the safety of our riders through their incorporated club members who own and operate these poly track racing venues at Riccarton, Awapuni and Cambridge.

Months ago I raised this serious issue of horse and rider carnage with both the CEO Bruce Sharrock and with Animal Welfare appointee Justine Slater, often copying in Darin Balcombe, or vice versa. In 3 of those written correspondences I received no response. I twice asked for the email contacts of our representative Board members at NZTR and, again, was ignored and not responded to.

 

4. Polytrack Clubs [Riccarton, Awapuni & Cambridge]

I’m referring here to the Canterbury Jockey Club, RACE consortium and to the Cambridge Jockey Club who are now part of Waikato Racing.

Again, they have a DUTY OF CARE to provide and prepare a track surface that is safe for horses and rider. This duty is part of their track maintenance program and the obvious challenges that come with that if resourcing Track Managers with an appropriate quantity of poly and the appropriate machinery to maintain it. During my investigation I received a claim that Tim Mills, CEO, reduced the quantity of poly supplied under contract at Riccarton so that the total spend would come under budget to please the CJC board members, something I hope is not true.

5. Trainers Representatives

This investigation raised serious concerns that our representative trainers in each region hadn’t alerted their owners to the major problems resulting from these tracks with horse wastage [injuries & deaths] so high. When asking this question of why our South Island Trainers Representative hadn’t wanted to take this as an issue through to the Association and/or directly onto NZTR, it became clear that the trainer involved liked the small fields to run his ‘end of life’ horses on with less regard for animal welfare than perhaps other trainers. Money being the overriding factor in keeping his stable viable.

6. Programming Committees.

The tragedy of the investigation findings is that the Programming Committees were clearly not aware of the poly track carnage where, in the main, they forced many trainers into racing their clients horses on the poly track because the program didn’t allow adequate opportunity for racing on the safer grass surfaces during the winter months.

In Canterbury here, as an example, my understanding is that the secreted Programming Committee is made up of Tim Mills as Chair and Michael Pitman who is a big supporter of poly track racing according to feedback I got from him last Saturday through one of my 5 trainers here in Canterbury. Michael was unhappy that I had undertaken this investigation.

 

OWNER REQUESTS:

1. Cease racing on the 3 poly tracks in NZ immediately.

2. Find solutions that will restore these valuable tracks to being safe & fit for purpose.

3. Compensate victims for their losses.

If the facts provided above are not already obvious to those responsible for safety in racing, I am happy to further contribute to any inquiry that might be aimed at starting the track rehabilitation process as soon as possible.

As the author of this report I only but wish that we have 3 very good poly tracks here in NZ to enhance the opportunities to ALL stakeholders and trust that the views and evidences above are treated with the respect they deserve.

Yours Sincerely,

 

Colin Wightman

RD 7, Rangiora 7477

 

 

[Wandering Eyes]

More Photos from NZ AWT's.

[curious]

 

This is atrocious.

[curious]

28 minutes ago, Wandering Eyes said:

More Photos from NZ AWT's.

Is that Riccarton also?

[Wandering Eyes]

BOAY is informed by a reliable source that the extra photos are indeed from the Riccarton Track.