Trojan Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Horse slips but apparently it lost a shoe. I would have thought that wouldn't have put the races back a race though. A friend walked the track and said it was very firm and had a Hastings feel to it but with shorter grass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Inspecting track again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Looks like they are off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Officially off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gammalite Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 what ? because a horse cast a shoe ? they get off balance easily with a shoe hanging half on/off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Trentham track proved safe with a lot of rain and a reasonable length of grass. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lane Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 The horse that cast its shoe was in Race 1. That caused the meeting to be put back a race. Then in Race 3 Sabrina Hall slipped badly. End of story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 2 minutes ago, Pete Lane said: The horse that cast its shoe was in Race 1. That caused the meeting to be put back a race. Then in Race 3 Sabrina Hall slipped badly. End of story. It won't be the end of story. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Centaur Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Should be easy transferring races to Te Aroha and perhaps knocking of a couple of Te Aroha maiden races to the next raceday. Every raceday in NZ should have plan B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lane Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 7 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: It won't be the end of story. For once I agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lane Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 6 minutes ago, The Centaur said: Should be easy transferring races to Te Aroha and perhaps knocking of a couple of Te Aroha maiden races to the next raceday. Every raceday in NZ should have plan B. Risky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 If anything goes wrong at Te Aroha in a few days that won't leave many options left in the north. Te Rapa has been taking up a lot of the slack over the last couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gammalite Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 with the gallops off you Gallops folk should watch the Ashburton trots this afternoon. The 2 BEST horses in the country are going head to head . Merlin and Don't Stop Dreaming. In a few minutes Empire City is in the Hambletonian Trot as these young Trotters prepare for a 1/2 million dollar Slot race on Showday soon. Against an Aussie undefeated wonderhorse. (ironically Empire City pulled a shoe in the running and galloped at her last start at $1.10 odds 😁) in a listed races. She should make up for it today ) a really nice trotting filly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lane Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 5 minutes ago, Gammalite said: with the gallops off you Gallops folk should watch the Ashburton trots this afternoon. The 2 BEST horses in the country are going head to head . Merlin and Don't Stop Dreaming. In a few minutes Empire City is in the Hambletonian Trot as these young Trotters prepare for a 1/2 million dollar Slot race on Showday soon. Against an Aussie undefeated wonderhorse. (ironically Empire City pulled a shoe in the running and galloped at her last start at $1.10 odds 😁) in a listed races. She should make up for it today ) a really nice trotting filly. Hmm $33 outsider wins it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 21 minutes ago, Pete Lane said: For once I agree with you. Well I walked the track before the races and expressed my fears to about 10 people that we wouldn't get through the day. Also spoke to a few trainers and jockeys. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lane Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Sarten on Wednesday at Te Aroha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 I just can't figure out why you wouldn't have been watering days out - making sure it was soft going into race day - at which time there was always rain/showers forecasted. Here's an equation that I thought most of us already knew: Good track + showers on/immediately before race-day = slippery track. But don't worry everyone - nothing to see here - there'll be an enquiry into Te Rapa and the track - and lessons will be learned - power harrows deployed - bad luck & acts of god will be rued - and any people possibly at fault will probably gain promotions - and it will never happen again. J. . 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 1 hour ago, The Centaur said: Every raceday in NZ should have plan B. Maybe they could if despised tracks (the safe ones) were reinstated as raceday venues. The Waipukurau trials will be watched with interest, a track that spent many years off limits as deemed unsafe. It seems that it is now acceptable if the track is a certain degree of unsafeness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 1 hour ago, jess said: I just can't figure out why you wouldn't have been watering days out - making sure it was soft going into race day - at which time there was always rain/showers forecasted. Here's an equation that I thought most of us already knew: Good track + showers on/immediately before race-day = slippery track. But don't worry everyone - nothing to see here - there'll be an enquiry into Te Rapa and the track - and lessons will be learned - power harrows deployed - bad luck & acts of god will be rued - and any people possibly at fault will probably gain promotions - and it will never happen again. J. . It's a bigger problem than that. Same issues as Hastings. We arrived at the course in the middle of a heavy shower that would have been 10 mins long. I walked part of the track and met up with the lone Jockey doing the same thing. I tried to dig my heels into the track with quite some force and couldn't make much of a dent in the surface. Having done the same at Hastings the day of their abandonment I had the thought that this was the same situation...deja vu! Or Ground Hog day - pun intended. I sent messages to some mates confirming the track was firm but I had a foreboding feeling. Did the horse that lost its shoe lose it before or after it slipped? Unfortunately I met a lot of people with skin in the game who had been at Hastings as well! A couple of individuals were very angry. Most seemed resigned. I really feel embarrassed for the mates I convinced to invest in the industry. They've been lucky and have picked up shares in very good horses but their enthusiasm is waning. The pressure for them is on Riccarton now... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 We should all be embarrassed for being a part of this industry. Is it rocket science? I don't think so. We can't just keep saying it will be better next time, because it never is. These stringent protocols are not stringent enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 2 minutes ago, Special Agent said: We should all be embarrassed for being a part of this industry. Is it rocket science? I don't think so. We can't just keep saying it will be better next time, because it never is. These stringent protocols are not stringent enough. Not stringent enough? Or, not flexible enough to let track managers do their job of preparing safe tracks first and foremost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 The individuals I do feel sorry for though are the track managers. They are having to manage these tracks with limited resources and a complete lack of investment in previous years - probably decades. So when you get a lead up week like Te Rapa has had you have very little wriggle room to get it right. The margins are small and essentially your only tool is irrigation. There is no buffer. Every agriculturalist or horticulturalist looks after that buffer by managing soil structure and their water budget. When a race track once the soil loses its structure the buffer goes. Then when you add into the mix zero tolerance for slipping well it all equals abandoments. I spoke to a Jockey afterwards and they were somewhat bemused about why these abandomments were happening. In their experience horses slipping in the past, although not regular, did happen. But that's another story. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 11 minutes ago, Special Agent said: We should all be embarrassed for being a part of this industry. Is it rocket science? I don't think so. We can't just keep saying it will be better next time, because it never is. These stringent protocols are not stringent enough. It would be a rare mistake for Bart Cowan to make - if in fact he is still at Te Rapa, I presume he is - because he is one of the best. I just can't imagine him being stood over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 The debrief will be awaited with interest by many. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 8 minutes ago, curious said: Not stringent enough? Or, not flexible enough to let track managers do their job of preparing safe tracks first and foremost? I don't blame the Track Managers at all. Lack of investment is the biggest factor. As for the "Stringent Protocols" - are they stringent? In recent months I get the impression that what is lacking is a lack of quality control and follow up on whether protocols were followed. For example at Hastings did they gallop horses on the course proper on raceday morning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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