Otaki 22 February 2025 - Abandoned after race 1.

[Freda]

Sadly, yes.

[Murray Fish]

6 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Probably still is but it has a crap irrigation system and the club probably can't afford to pay for the water and power to run it!

the poison chalice  Job of racing, the provincial track manager and their off sider or two! The modern bane of watering the track with a length of hose! that needs to be moved  x  distance, x amount of times, all different cambers and winds etc to deal with.  I know of one track that is prone to a wet spot, that has lead to problems! sigh, a tough day at the office for Kane today!!!

[Chief Stipe]

5 minutes ago, Murray Fish said:

the poison chalice  Job of racing, the provincial track manager and their off sider or two! The modern bane of watering the track with a length of hose! that needs to be moved  x  distance, x amount of times, all different cambers and winds etc to deal with.  I know of one track that is prone to a wet spot, that has lead to problems! sigh, a tough day at the office for Kane today!!!

Yep I suspect all of the above.  Of course the Club Exec are probably to old or too young and busy to help.

I have the utmost sympathy for all the Track Managers in NZ - they have been under-resourced for decades.

Can you image a turf track in New Zealand successfully running a meeting every Thursday for 3 and half months without an abandonment?  That's about 15 race meeting one week after another. 

Well the Hastings Track Manager managed that when the Track Manager at Pakenham in Victoria.  Over 20 years experience in track management and turf culture. 

He is only about three months into the job at Hastings and the Hawkes Bay Guineas meeting is abandoned not because of anything he did but because of decades of insufficient investment in maintenance and renovation.  The track gets closed down - the reasons why we are still not entirely sure but for at least a couple of seasons.

Then a Senior Jockey on Trackside today puts the boot in!

[Newmarket]

On this site there are trainers and ex jockeys, maybe you could answer below questions if they were asked 30 yrs ago….lets say around 1990.

1, Who made the decision to call off racing, was it mainly jockeys like today? 

2, Are the majority of  track conditions worse now than then?

3, Did the clubs, trainers & owners apply more pressure on jockeys to continue riding even if conditions not ideal? 
 

4, Compare both eras regarding track watering?

Thanks, be interesting to hear, also anything else that has changed in this timeframe that could help me understand…
 

 

 

[Special Agent]

31 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

On this site there are trainers and ex jockeys, maybe you could answer below questions if they were asked 30 yrs ago….lets say around 1990.

1, Who made the decision to call off racing, was it mainly jockeys like today? 

2, Are the majority of  track conditions worse now than then?

3, Did the clubs, trainers & owners apply more pressure on jockeys to continue riding even if conditions not ideal? 
 

4, Compare both eras regarding track watering?

Thanks, be interesting to hear, also anything else that has changed in this timeframe that could help me understand…
 

 

 

1.  Jockeys used to make up their own minds and leave the course individually if they didn't wish to ride.  You cannot make a jockey ride if they don't feel safe.  Most jockeys raced on with sheets of water coming off flooded tracks, poor visibility and freezing cold conditions.  Tracks weren't generally wet at this time of the year.  Officialdom still called the races off mostly with the consesus.

2.  Track conditions and track surfaces are different now.  The tracks are hammered nowadays.  There weren't the number of race meetings on so few tracks and hardly any trials or jumpouts.  Tracks were wetter in winter but safe.  I think there are more slippery tracks due to interfering with nature.

3.  Pressure was definitely on the jockeys then, particularly from prominent trainers, and apprentices did what they were told.  They didn't get the same opportunities so were not in a position to argue.

4.  Noel Eales did not agree with watering tracks.  I'm not sure when the over watering began but, I think influenced by Australian imports.  The rule of thumb used to be water to grow the grass, not alter the track rating/condition.

Other changes in this time frame include a softening of all people in NZ, less farming activities on tracks, administrators with NO idea taking over clubs, apprentices being able to race ride when not competent, top jockeys being exported, horses are definitely less educated presently, most horses race in aluminum plates as opposed to steel, there are a lot more foreigners riding in races, corners seem to be cut on track preparation, less horses seem to gallop on grass in training.  That's a start.  Many others can add a lot more.

[Special Agent]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Then a Senior Jockey on Trackside today puts the boot in!

Today's coverage was a new experience.  The way the footage was shown at the express wishes of Stipendiary Stewards was unusual.  Trackside Presenters were giving their opinions on such matters they would normally be told to refrain from.  Then, when emotions are running at high levels a jockey was interviewed at length, on cancellations of three different race meetings.  I'm not sure if this is part of the new protocols, and whether she was a chosen jockey representative, self appointed or selected by Trackside.

Bevin Sweeney said Jonathan Riddell asked all jockeys who rode in the first race and all were happy with the state of the track.  I think experts need to spend time reviewing footage.  I know presenters stated the horse fell free of interference.  Some points to ponder ... the horse was a first starter, it had a long stride and was in close proximity to three runners ahead of it, a clipping heel touch can be minimal and barely visible to cause a fall, the tail carriage may suggest discomfort from having struck itself prior to a further strike before falling/losing the rider, if the track was slippery why did the second horse not slip, were the slip marks before or after the fall, were there any concerns from pre-race protocols, even the presenters said they'd walked the track so how many red flags were put up at the "slipping" point?

[Wingman]

13 minutes ago, Special Agent said:

4.  Noel Eales did not agree with watering tracks.  I'm not sure when the over watering began but, I think influenced by Australian imports.  The rule of thumb used to be water to grow the grass, not alter the track rating/condition.

Other changes in this time frame include a softening of all people in NZ, less farming activities on tracks, administrators with NO idea taking over clubs, apprentices being able to race ride when not competent, top jockeys being exported, horses are definitely less educated presently, most horses race in aluminum plates as opposed to steel, there are a lot more foreigners riding in races, corners seem to be cut on track preparation, less horses seem to gallop on grass in training.  That's a start.  Many others can add a lot more.

This is what I like about this site, Popeye asked some valid questions and may I say Special Agent you have answered in an excellent manner without derision.

To add to what Special Agent said, Noel Eales was a master trainer who not only disagreed with watering but also did not agree with moving the rail. Kate Hercock in her interview today after the abandoned Otaki meeting said as much about moving the rail. In short, "move it and we will still go wider if we think that's best so leave us, the jockeys to do what we are paid to".

If only the suits would pay attention!

Back to watering where I both agree/disagree with Mr Eales is Summertime racing. I think it was sometime in the nineties that Trentham did not water for their summer meeting and one of the days racing was on a rock hard track leaving most runners jarred up.

I was livid a year ago as to the over watering of the Otaki track for the G1, today raced at Ellerslie, however I have no problem with watering through to Wednesday night prior to a Saturday meeting. Nature then decides what will be. 

The real problem, excluding lack of investment towards track wellbeing, is the suits deciding that a uniform soft 5, previously, a dead track, prior to that an easy track, must be presented at all times. They want vanilla, we want variety and given variety is the spice of life that is why the suits in charge are rapidly pushing the industry towards the sunset.  

[Shab]

New guy going to be earning a bit of his million a year sorting this out.

Maybe Entain can put up some new markets with odds for us to bet on in the meantime - no abandonment, abandonment after race 1, race 2, race 3......

[Freda]

5 hours ago, Special Agent said:

1.  Jockeys used to make up their own minds and leave the course individually if they didn't wish to ride.  You cannot make a jockey ride if they don't feel safe.  Most jockeys raced on with sheets of water coming off flooded tracks, poor visibility and freezing cold conditions.  Tracks weren't generally wet at this time of the year.  Officialdom still called the races off mostly with the consesus.

2.  Track conditions and track surfaces are different now.  The tracks are hammered nowadays.  There weren't the number of race meetings on so few tracks and hardly any trials or jumpouts.  Tracks were wetter in winter but safe.  I think there are more slippery tracks due to interfering with nature.

3.  Pressure was definitely on the jockeys then, particularly from prominent trainers, and apprentices did what they were told.  They didn't get the same opportunities so were not in a position to argue.

4.  Noel Eales did not agree with watering tracks.  I'm not sure when the over watering began but, I think influenced by Australian imports.  The rule of thumb used to be water to grow the grass, not alter the track rating/condition.

Other changes in this time frame include a softening of all people in NZ, less farming activities on tracks, administrators with NO idea taking over clubs, apprentices being able to race ride when not competent, top jockeys being exported, horses are definitely less educated presently, most horses race in aluminum plates as opposed to steel, there are a lot more foreigners riding in races, corners seem to be cut on track preparation, less horses seem to gallop on grass in training.  That's a start.  Many others can add a lot more.

Excellent analysis. 

I will add that one major difference between 'then' and 'now' is the H&S laws which affect us all, not just in racing.