Chief Stipe Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 Turf guru answers call to rescue Magic Millions day at the Gold Coast www.racenet.com.au – with Ben Dorries Evergreen Turf supremo Graeme Colless is no stranger to rescuing marquee events. In 2019, on the eve of the New Year's Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Colless and his team were parachuted in to bring the iconic venue's surface up to scratch after a series of U2 concerts in the lead up had left it in disrepair. And in 2022 they were at it again when front and centre in bringing a section of the Flemington track back from the brink following an act of vandalism during the Melbourne Cup carnival. • ‘Suspicious items' found near scene of Gold Coast track poisoning drama This week, Colless and his expert team are plying their trade on the Gold Coast in a bid to salvage Saturday's lucrative $14.5m Magic Millions meeting, following the much publicised poisoning of a section of the track surface which forced last week's meeting to be shifted to the Sunshine Coast. The damaged section of the Gold Coast track. Picture: Supplied And in the greatest endorsement yet, turf whisperer Colless, who answered an SOS call from Queensland officials at the weekend, has declared he is now "90 per cent confident" that the Gold Coast track would be fit to race on Saturday. Speaking to Racenet on Tuesday, Colless said the turf replacement had got to the point where jockeys would be able to test it in gallops on Thursday morning which will ultimately decide the future of the meeting. "Racing Queensland rang me on Friday evening and I had to get some of my staff back from holidays and fly in others from Melbourne," Colless said. • Barrier Draw: Dream turns to despair for Magic Millions favourite "There was also gear from all around Sydney that we needed to pick up, then we got up to the Gold Coast on Sunday and did an inspection. "We found some grass on the track that we are going to replace from the B-Grass onto the course proper and we have got specialised machines to do that. Mark Guest - Last 7 Days • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! "The machines that we use for stadiums, they cut (turf) rolls of about nine square metres and then they are all hydraulically pushed over by another machine that we have got. "All things being equal, I am giving them a 90 per cent chance of racing at the Gold Coast on Saturday." Late on Tuesday, News Corp revealed that it had become increasingly likely that the track poisoning at the Gold Coast was a deliberate act by vandals. Suspicious items, including weed spray nozzles, along with footprints near a canal which adjoins the racecourse are said to be forming part of the Police investigation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 (edited) GC track works completed Ryan Reynolds @Reynolds_R 8:34am The affected section of the track at Gold Coast (Image: Gold Coast Turf Club) With Ben Sporle Key works on the Gold Coast Turf Club track have been completed as the clock ticks down to Saturday's feature Magic Millions Raceday. The club announced on Tuesday night that the new grass had been laid and key works completed after a significant portion of the track was damaged last week. That damage forced last Saturday's key lead-up meeting to be moved to the Sunshine Coast, allowing the club time to fix the track ahead of this weekend's $14.5m meeting. Evergreen Turf and VRC track manager Liam O'Keeffe were called in to assist to project, while Eagle Farm is on standby to host the meeting if required. Horses are set to gallop over the impacted section of track on Thursday morning with a call made shortly after on whether the meeting will proceed. Meanwhile, on Tuesday afternoon the Gold Coast Turf Club released a statement in relation to the investigation surrounding the damaged course proper. Spray nozzles, mixing equipment and footprints were found in the area were the damage occurred. Police are continuing their investigation in relation to the incident. “We’re awaiting an independent report from leading agronomist company Easton Turf, who has been up to take samples of the damaged turf, but it’s looking more and more a case of vandalism,” said GCTC Chairman Brett Cook. “We know the spray nozzles aren’t ours because they’re plastic and we use brass. “Easton Turf has seen a number of similar cases in the past and has spoken with the investigating police. “If it does turn out to be a deliberate act, which is looking increasingly likely, we’re very disappointed with a narrative that has come out suggesting it was some sort of mistake on our part.” Edited January 8 by curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 I suppose the question is now whether the patch is consistent enough with the rest of the track to be safe to race on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 1 hour ago, curious said: I suppose the question is now whether the patch is consistent enough with the rest of the track to be safe to race on. Well if that was the test then Trentham may as well get rid of the shute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gammalite Posted Thursday at 05:26 AM Share Posted Thursday at 05:26 AM Gold Coast Track Tested this morning and Passed with flying colours !! Here's a few horses thundering over it no problem at all. Well done those track attendants they flew in. Bloody miracle Job.!! Hope they catch the arse-wipe that did that and pour some of his chemicals down his throat to give home the shits for a few days , 🤣. like he did to the racing Magic Millions folk. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted Thursday at 06:02 AM Author Share Posted Thursday at 06:02 AM 34 minutes ago, Gammalite said: Gold Coast Track Tested this morning and Passed with flying colours !! Here's a few horses thundering over it no problem at all. Well done those track attendants they flew in. Bloody miracle Job.!! Hope they catch the arse-wipe that did that and pour some of his chemicals down his throat to give home the shits for a few days , 🤣. like he did to the racing Magic Millions folk. From what I've read the Flemington Track Manager is one they should be following. Flemington seems to be the most consistent track in OZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted Thursday at 06:04 AM Share Posted Thursday at 06:04 AM (edited) Gold Coast track gets tick for Millions day: ‘We could have raced today' https://www.racenet.com.au/news/gold-coast-track-gets-green-light-for-magic-millions-day-20250108 Watch the crucial track gallop that gave the course the tick of approval. By Trenton Akers 06:17pm • 09 January 2025 One of the most respected stewards in the world says the repair job at the controversial Gold Coast track worked so well, they could have raced the Magic Millions on Thursday if it was required. After almost a week of mixed messaging and uncertainty, it took less than half an hour for Kim Kelly to give $14.5m meeting the green light on Thursday morning after senior jockeys Vlad Duric, Chad Schofield, Jimmy Orman, Michael Cahill, Andrew Mallyon and Martin Harley tested the new turf. "We looked at it yesterday (Wednesday) and I was confident that if, at a pinch, the races were on today (Thursday), we could have done it," Kelly, the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission's deputy commissioner said. "The time between Wednesday and Saturday is just a bonus." While officials have managed to dodge a bullet with the track, they are facing a new potential issue, with up to 30mm of rain forecast to fall at the Gold Coast on Saturday's race day. The meeting was famously washed out in 2023 with just 14mm of rain overnight, however the new sand-based Gold Coast track is much more resilient to downpours, should they arrive. With grass guru's Evergreen Turf replacing the entire affected patch of killed off grass earlier in the week, racing officials are confident the new slab will race consistently with the rest of the course proper. "The contractors, Racing Queensland and the club have done a great job in getting the affected area back to where it is now," Kelly said. "It was all very positive. "The rain on Wednesday night could have only helped it, natural irrigation is better than any other irrigation. "I am very confident, the feedback from the riders was positive, as I expected it would be after looking at the track. "We are very happy with the outcome so far, there are no issues with the meeting on Saturday at this stage at all." The six jockeys who rode on the track on Thursday were not permitted to make public comments about their gallops earlier in the day. Additional track staff will be on hand to inspect the area at the 500m mark on Saturday after each race Edited Thursday at 06:06 AM by curious 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted Thursday at 07:13 AM Author Share Posted Thursday at 07:13 AM One up for those that supports the Horticultural Experts. https://www.evergreen.com.au/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted Thursday at 09:47 AM Share Posted Thursday at 09:47 AM A big effort making other clubs in Australasia look pathetic. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tragedy Beat Posted Friday at 08:03 PM Share Posted Friday at 08:03 PM An amazing feat what theyve done here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted 22 hours ago Author Share Posted 22 hours ago Talking to some people that were on course at the abandoned meeting and when it rained everything was flooded. Torrential. Hopefully they get some luck on Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted 21 hours ago Share Posted 21 hours ago Interesting. It was Roundup and they haven't ruled out it being an error rather than vandalism. The neatness of the damaged area is consistent with that. Asked whether there is a correlation between the machinery used by the Gold Coast Turf Club and the size of the damaged area, Superintendent Jackson said there were some consistencies. "There is a correlation in the fact that the dimensions of the turf that was affected is 16 metres wide and a spray boom (used at the Turf Club) is around eight metres," he said. "So there is somewhat of a correlation, yes." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted 12 hours ago Share Posted 12 hours ago Well, I guess a cockup is feasible, shame, but human error is always a factor in matters involving, well, people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted 10 hours ago Author Share Posted 10 hours ago Even the stuff up explanation has weaknesses. Residues of glyphosate (Roundup) was found. Yet the affected area seems to be a perfect 16 metre wide piece of turf. Which is two boom lengths. How do you spray one 8m piece then either turn around and spray another or back up and doing another length without leaving traces of spray outside the square (pun intended). I remember spraying some weeds on the edges of a lawn once. A couple of weeks later I noticed a set of boot prints across the line. Obviously I had walked in the area I had sprayed while it was still wet and walked back across the lawn!! So to make the square with a boom sprayer on a tractor you'd have to drive one length and then do a U-turn and do a second length. Then not drive over what you had just sprayed. For what reason would you only spray a square like that for legitimate reasons? Fungus? You'd spray the whole track and surrounds. Same with insect pests. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murray Fish Posted 9 hours ago Share Posted 9 hours ago 42 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: Even the stuff up explanation has weaknesses. sounds like its time for Sherlock @Thomas onto the case!!!! 😇 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted 8 hours ago Author Share Posted 8 hours ago 32 minutes ago, Murray Fish said: sounds like its time for Sherlock @Thomas onto the case!!!! 😇 Please no! @Thomass will still be "investigating" in 10 years time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted 7 hours ago Share Posted 7 hours ago 1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said: Please no! @Thomass will still be "investigating" in 10 years time! Or reporting his conclusions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted 7 hours ago Share Posted 7 hours ago (edited) 2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: Even the stuff up explanation has weaknesses. Residues of glyphosate (Roundup) was found. Yet the affected area seems to be a perfect 16 metre wide piece of turf. Which is two boom lengths. How do you spray one 8m piece then either turn around and spray another or back up and doing another length without leaving traces of spray outside the square (pun intended). I remember spraying some weeds on the edges of a lawn once. A couple of weeks later I noticed a set of boot prints across the line. Obviously I had walked in the area I had sprayed while it was still wet and walked back across the lawn!! So to make the square with a boom sprayer on a tractor you'd have to drive one length and then do a U-turn and do a second length. Then not drive over what you had just sprayed. For what reason would you only spray a square like that for legitimate reasons? Fungus? You'd spray the whole track and surrounds. Same with insect pests. They'd have to have intentionally sprayed just that section wouldn't they? It's hard to believe that vandals with a hand sprayer would have made a neat job of just that section. Unless they put the roundup in the spray tank, perhaps knowing the club were about to use it? Edited 7 hours ago by curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted 3 hours ago Author Share Posted 3 hours ago 3 hours ago, curious said: They'd have to have intentionally sprayed just that section wouldn't they? It's hard to believe that vandals with a hand sprayer would have made a neat job of just that section. Unless they put the roundup in the spray tank, perhaps knowing the club were about to use it? Well the cock up theory seems more implausible than the vandal theory. It would only take 15 litre back pack sprayer to do the damage in one go and even I could walk straight lines across the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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