Wightman's Latest FB post on Polytracks.

[Chief Stipe]

Colin Wightman said:

 

“Take 4” of the NZ Polytrack saga as it comes down to the OBC versus the good folk in racing, those who truly care for the welfare of our horses. Without a shadow of a doubt, NZ’s polytracks are a disaster. A $50 million cock-up.

Darren Balcombe the track man for NZTR tried to convince me that Cambridge had been “sorted” but clear evidence since is proving that it is no better than the cheap shod polytracks we have at both Awapuni and Riccarton.

Horses injured & euthanised alongside a growing list of riders who have fallen victim to it as well at a far higher rate than turf.

The OBC, I shouldn’t need to tell you, don’t care for animal welfare. They are primarily social climbers who only care for themselves. Wine swilling, self serving, selfish, bludging, queer speaking unfortunates who use our beautiful horses to promote their social climbing careers. Many with funny handshakes … I’m sure you’ve got the picture. Sadly, many of them have infiltrated our racing administration.

Heavily subsidised city clubs the nesting ground for most, gravy running down their chins with their heads in the pigs trough as it’s known.

Okay .. enough of who the OBC is (most of you should know) but I’m going to take my hat back off to an amazing chap I refer to as Mr Z who has been trying to alert racing authorities here in NZ to the horrific substandard nature of our polytracks. He is so passionate about our horses welfare that he has suffered at the hands of NZTR and the arrogant sods at RACE consortium who have set out to victimise him for blowing the whistle. Yep, NZTR not renewing his stable hands licence and then 3 of the hand picked Board members from NZTR giving it back to him with so many conditions attached that it’s not worth having. His wife who holds the trainers licence booted off Awapuni track because of the good work of her husband. Fortunately, in reverse, it doesn’t end there. Mr Z to his credit has just visited the super dooper poly track at Santa Anita (their 2nd attempt to get it right) and he visited the number one poly track in Ireland (Dundalk) to get the latest intelligence on why these polytracks work in both countries and not here. NZTR, as often they do, will hate being told that they are guilty of a big cover-up on the dangers of the polytracks here because Mr Z has filed an amazing report to the heads of this industry calling on an urgent reconsideration of what they are subjecting our horses and riders to. In short ..

I see this as a showdown between those who love the Thoroughbred racehorse and care for our riders .. and those who don’t. Sadly, Darin Balcombe’s share price on this one is not looking good. Nor is the Board of NZTR in terms of their complicity in the horrific treatment dished out to Mr Z who has acted “for the good of racing” here in NZ.

[Chief Stipe]

8 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

The OBC, I shouldn’t need to tell you, don’t care for animal welfare.

I think whoever is in the Col's Old Boy's Club do actuaIlly care about animal welfare.  Unfortunately I think they are as disconnected as the rest of us with regard to what is happening at the coal face.  For a number of reasons.

Yes they are Old School.  They still believe that what needs to happen to provide safe surfaces for racing on are being prepared.  They won't criticise. 

The irony is those that are tasked with providing those surfaces also believe they are doing the right thing.  With limited resources they are doing their best.

BUT the administrators that are supposed to be checking are not doing their job.  They think they are but they aren't.  

[curious]

NZTR to Launch Independent Review Into Synthetic Track Performance

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has today announced an independent review into the performance of the country's three synthetic racetracks.

The review, to be led by Massey University, will involve independent world-leading experts from the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, based out of The University of Kentucky.

The review will analyse all existing data as well as carry out additional testing to better understand the performance of New Zealand’s synthetic tracks.

The current stated objectives of the review are:

·         Provide a concise summary of the hoof limb interaction on synthetic and turf tracks based on the published literature

·         Provide a description of the synthetic tracks in New Zealand, their physical properties, the management techniques employed and the current metrics on horse use and performance

Analysis by Massey University of the 2023/24 racing season revealed that New Zealand remains one of the safest horse racing jurisdictions in the world, with a fracture rate on turf tracks of 0.37 per 1,000 starts.

While still world leading, the fracture rate on synthetic tracks appears higher than turf at 0.81 per 1,000 starts.

Although the data pool remains small due to the limited number of starts when compared to turf tracks, it is hoped the review will help explain the disparities as well as highlight areas of improvement. This in turn should lead to improved track performance and help alleviate any industry concerns.

“The review is part of our commitment to industry stakeholders to seek continuous improvement and investigate any concerns,” says NZTR Chief Operating Officer, Darin Balcombe.

“NZTR is aware of the concerns raised which is why we are engaging the experts to lead this review and identify what we can do to improve conditions at Cambridge, Awapuni and Riccarton."

Chief Technology Officer, Kaleb Dempsey from the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory is due to fly out to begin work within the next few weeks. He will be followed by Professor Mick Petersen in early 2025. Prof. Petersen is a highly regarded world expert in racetrack surfaces and is the Director of the Racetrack Safety Program at the University of Kentucky.

The report is expected to be published mid-2025.

Corporate Communications
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing
Contact: Catlyn Calder
+64 27 252 2803
nztrcommunications@nztr.co.nz

[Special Agent]

Darin Balcombe states that the fracture rate is higher on synthetic tracks here.

I bet other career ending injuries such as tendon and ligament damage are higher too.

The statistics don't seem to mention the horses that have dropped dead without broken limbs, or bleeders.

Also not considered are other injuries that are ongoing and require treatment like muscle damage and breathing difficulties.

Well done for listening to the yelling.

Edited November 6 by Special Agent

[Freda]

Well, we have the much- aligned Colin Wightman to thank for this.

Despite the concerns of many people, their opinions have been largely brushed aside and I very much doubt if anything would have transpired without his energy - as well as that of Mr Z.

Although Col can go off at a tangent he loves a stoush and in this case, despite some rather creative language, has galvanized some action.

[Chief Stipe]

2 hours ago, Freda said:

Well, we have the much- aligned Colin Wightman to thank for this.

Despite the concerns of many people, their opinions have been largely brushed aside and I very much doubt if anything would have transpired without his energy - as well as that of Mr Z.

Although Col can go off at a tangent he loves a stoush and in this case, despite some rather creative language, has galvanized some action.

I think he should let go of the OBC conspiracy stuff.  I was listening to Maurice Williamson yesterday discussing politics and he quoted Muldoon.  Muldoon said if you have a problem and the choice is between a conspiracy and a cockup always go for the cockup.

So in this case it isn't a conspiracy that has caused these problems it is basically incompetence either caused by the wrong people making the wrong decisions or the constraints of a lack of resources directed at the problems.  Does anyone really think that @Huey 's the imaginary Waikato Mafia want tracks they way they are?

[Special Agent]

You might not agree with everything someone says but, credit where it is due.  Colin has done an amazing job just getting NZTR to listen.  The desired result may not eventuate (personally I'd like to see NZTR cut "our" losses and restore grass tracks where synthetic ones currently lie) but, we can at least now see action.

Thank you.

[curious]

7 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

I think he should let go of the OBC conspiracy stuff.  I was listening to Maurice Williamson yesterday discussing politics and he quoted Muldoon.  Muldoon said if you have a problem and the choice is between a conspiracy and a cockup always go for the cockup.

So in this case it isn't a conspiracy that has caused these problems it is basically incompetence either caused by the wrong people making the wrong decisions or the constraints of a lack of resources directed at the problems.  Does anyone really think that @Huey 's the imaginary Waikato Mafia want tracks they way they are?

I agree. I think he has forgotten “Hanlon’s Razor” – the rule that one should never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

[curious]

Integrated Racetrack Tester a One-Stop-Shop in Track Surface Measurements

Monday, November 11, 2024 at 11:42 am | Back to: Top News

 

 

Kaleb Dempsey | Dan Ross

By Dan Ross

In the week leading up to this year's Breeders' Cup, observers who remained trackside at the conclusion of morning training would have spotted a young man with a short bristly moustache lug an unusual looking contraption around the two ovals at the heart of Del Mar.

If these trackside observers hung around long enough, they would have spotted this two-legged interloper stop to place down and trigger what appeared to be a miniature guillotine, twiddle with a few buttons, then either jump back into his golf cart or set off on foot for another sixteenth-of-a-mile sprint.

On the Tuesday morning before the championships, the young man in question, Kaleb Dempsey, stopped mid-rounds to express satisfaction with his revolutionary-looking sidepiece.

 

“It's been very consistent,” said Dempsey, laboratory manager of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory (RSTL), in a way that betrayed both relief and trepidation (more on this in a bit). “Overall, I've been very happy with it.”

The darling of Dempsey's eye is the Integrated Racetrack Tester. It's not, in fact, a guillotine. But it does execute a vitally important function that seeks to drag the sometimes technologically backward-looking world of managing racetrack surfaces into something resembling modernity.

At every sixteenth pole, Dempsey will stop and plonk the upright contraption onto the track surface. He will then let a one-kilogram mass fall a meter onto a small block that in turn will strike a one-centimeter probe-tip into the ground. Dempsey does this at five, 10 and 15 feet from the rail at every stop.

The probe tip will measure the total depth penetrated. At the same time, the machine is equipped to simultaneously collect a range of other information, including moisture content, surface temperature, moisture salinity, GPS coordinates, and a timestamp of when the information was collected. This data is stored locally.

“And then at the end of the data collection–I have a cellular modem embedded into this which is something we didn't have last time–we actually generate an automatic surface report in PDF form,” said Dempsey, who added that the tool will also send track superintendents a raw-data set for good measure.

With all this information at their fingertips, superintendents can accurately gauge the consistency of the track surface–in other words cushion depth and moisture content and other useful data points–all around the track. All these measurements from this one single tool–a hitherto unheard of concept.

Indeed, up until now most track managers have used the GoingStick on the turf, and a FieldScout TDR Meter to measure moisture content in both the turf and the dirt. And unlike the GoingStick, the Integrated Racetrack Tester doesn't depend upon who's using it.

“I could let you pick it up and use it, and it would get the same measurement that I would have,” he said, adding that it provides a more qualitative measurement of the turf as compared to its more vintage counterpart.

“In the U.S., we tend not to have a qualitative measurement of the turf. 'Oh yes, it's firm.' Or, 'oh yes, it's yielding.' In Australia and New Zealand, they don't do it qualitatively. They take a look at the average reading–that's how they read the turf. They have a scale of one to 11,” said Dempsey.

Furthermore, the Integrated Racetrack Tester doesn't discriminate–it can be used on the turf, the dirt and synthetic surfaces.

This means it has the potential to satisfy the daily surface monitoring and measurement requirements written into the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)–requirements not currently being met uniformly across all U.S. racetracks.

“We have a high number of tracks that are finally starting to provide their daily measurements thorough the maintenance quality system. That's a good thing–it's how we really pull this data together,” said Dempsey. “But the hardest step is to actually get people to take the daily measurements so we can have those links.”

Among the readouts issued to the track crews is a graph showing a middle green zone sandwiched between yellow and then red cushions. The trick is to maintain a wavey line that more or less stays within the green zone, to reflect a consistent surface.

“You want to see that every day,” said Dempsey, who then pulled up on his phone a graph showing a 12-day dataset for Aqueduct. “You can see, when they opened it up, they had to tune it up a little bit. But now it's a lot more consistent.”

The toughest period for a track manager, he said, is the initial stages of a meet.

“When you're coming out from being closed to open, it's always a little tricky–it takes a lot of work. It's not perfect the whole time. It takes time to even out.”

What this tool does is confirm or refute the subjective impressions and suspicions that track crews make as they go about the process of ironing out these kinks in the track, tightening or loosening it up bit by bit in preparation for the advent of the first set of hooves.

“You don't make big adjustments on a track,” Dempsey said. “You want to tweak it a little bit over time.”

Tweaking over time is a succinct summary of how Dempsey has approached the designing, building and modification of the Integrated Racetrack Tester, developed using Jockey Club funding.

Indeed, it was four years ago that Dempsey unveiled an earlier version of this tool–a big, lumbering cumbersome unit that, contrary to its size, proved as delicate as a Faberge Egg.

It's taken a few years for Dempsey to reach the prime-time stage of the tool's launch. Pandemic-era restrictions held back his work somewhat, while earlier iterations of the machine proved ill-suited to life on the racetrack.

“This is a pretty harsh environment. It's dusty, wet, the vibrations from the truck. The track crews–we've got some pretty heavy-handed people,” said Dempsey. “You test things at the lab and you think, 'Oh, that'll work great.' But nothing beats field testing.”

An Achilles Heel of the current iteration, for example, was the guillotine contraption that catapults the probe into the soil.

There are now seven of these machines currently in use. The New York Racing Association has one. So does Churchill Downs, Oaklawn Park, Colonial Downs, as well as tracks in New Zealand. It's expected to have several important corollary uses, including in better understanding the patterns underlying equine fatalities and injuries.

Using two years of race-day data out of New Zealand which used the Longchamp penetrometer (on which the Integrated Racetrack Tester is based), researchers determined that horses had lower odds of injury on a slow track compared to other conditions–perhaps not exactly a landmark discovery by itself.

But interestingly, the researchers pointed to the overall infrequency of fast race-day conditions, and observed, “it may be that the reduction in the number of races presented as fast tracks is a direct response by the industry to the perceived risk of racing on such surfaces.”

Another corollary use, said Dempsey, could be for the tracks to share this detail-rich set of data with the punters.

“I think there's real value in that. It all goes to transparency,” said Dempsey. “But at the same time, it's not uncommon for data to be misinterpreted. There's always a risk in sharing information like this.”

The tool currently costs about $10,000.

“I'm hoping by next summer to have a 20% reduction in price,” he said, adding how the GoingStick is of comparable price.

Demspey assembles these units himself, in what sounds like the building of a large Meccano set. In a satisfying rebuke to the pathology of hoarding behind closed doors intellectual property beneficial to the public good, the designs to this machine are open source, accessible through the RSTL's website.

“If you wanted to–if you had the skills to–you could make it yourself,”  he said. “Our mission is just to make tracks safer.”