CD Track Woes

[Special Agent]

7 hours ago, Doomed said:

I doubt very much that Awapuni would be the mess it is now if Bill Freeman and Jack Bennet were still running things in PN.

Didn't the club run a farm as well?

[Chief Stipe]

7 hours ago, Doomed said:

One of my favourite races. Track seemed to play ok to me. 5 starters but all reasonable types. Easter Cup only had 4 on Saturday.

It's pointless trying to debate track maintenance with me. I know absolutely nothing about that sort of thing.  I hop on my ride on mower and turn the key and go around in circles. That is the extent of my grass knowledge.

Well try mowing the lawn in all weathers and watch what happens to the soil underneath.  Never irrigate it and watch the broadleaf weeds increase in number and watch the rain when it does come not disperse evenly.  Don't bother oversowing with new grass seed every 4 or 5 years just leave the existing grasses to grow old.  Never put anything back in to the soil other than nitrogen fertiliser maybe once every two years.  Oh and don't bother to clean out the drains.

Most of our tracks are built on clay loam type soils which are prone to mechanical breakdown of the soil structure over time which is sped up by the loss of organic material in the soil.  The soil then starts to compact and its ability to drain gets worse.  The clay becomes gluggy like plasticine when wet and dries hard like concrete when the sun shines.  Riccarton, Hastings and Awapuni becoming classic cases.  Ellerslie and Te Rapa had reached that stage before sand slitting but that is only effective for a short while.  Trentham is another.  

A track like Foxton is a Sandy Loam - i.e. a mix of sand and silt with originally a reasonable level of organic matter.  That offers good drainage but also an ability to retain moisture at a higher level than pure sand so reducing the need for irrigation. 

The new Ellerslie is the extreme example of great drainage but very low water rentention and as there is no organic material poor nutrient availability hence the need to continually irrigate and fertilise i.e. a type of hydroponic system.  80-85% of the irrigation or rain on the track drains right through it within a short number of hours.  They now compensate by mechanically breaking the sand compaction to allow a safe track.

[jess]

5 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well try mowing the lawn in all weathers and watch what happens to the soil underneath.  Never irrigate it and watch the broadleaf weeds increase in number and watch the rain when it does come not disperse evenly.  Don't bother oversowing with new grass seed every 4 or 5 years just leave the existing grasses to grow old.  Never put anything back in to the soil other than nitrogen fertiliser maybe once every two years.  Oh and don't bother to clean out the drains.

Most of our tracks are built on clay loam type soils which are prone to mechanical breakdown of the soil structure over time which is sped up by the loss of organic material in the soil.  The soil then starts to compact and its ability to drain gets worse.  The clay becomes gluggy like plasticine when wet and dries hard like concrete when the sun shines.  Riccarton, Hastings and Awapuni becoming classic cases.  Ellerslie and Te Rapa had reached that stage before sand slitting but that is only effective for a short while.  Trentham is another.  

A track like Foxton is a Sandy Loam - i.e. a mix of sand and silt with originally a reasonable level of organic matter.  That offers good drainage but also an ability to retain moisture at a higher level than pure sand so reducing the need for irrigation. 

The new Ellerslie is the extreme example of great drainage but very low water rentention and as there is no organic material poor nutrient availability hence the need to continually irrigate and fertilise i.e. a type of hydroponic system.  80-85% of the irrigation or rain on the track drains right through it within a short number of hours.  They now compensate by mechanically breaking the sand compaction to allow a safe track.

You've alluded in the past, & seem to have some knowledge in this area Chief & even as a layperson in the discipline - it's not hard to make sense of it.  So it's a good read.

Sounds to me like a truckload of money has been spent to produce inferior versions elsewhere, of what nature had (better) provided in a place like Foxton  - requiring from there, simply an effective irrigation system & regular, informed & capable maintenance.   

(considerations of population base & general infrastructure notwithstanding ...)

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, jess said:

Sounds to me like a truckload of money has been spent to produce inferior versions elsewhere, of what nature had (better) provided in a place like Foxton  - requiring from there, simply an effective irrigation system & regular, informed & capable maintenance.

Yes but even then Foxton would need rejuvenation otherwise you end up depleting what makes it a good track.  @curious mentioned the fact that putting more sand on the track was anathema instead they focussed on putting organic matter back on it.

Foxton may actually be doing all it can at the moment in terms of offering trials and jumpouts.  Adding racing to the surface with the extra horse and machine traffic might tip it over unless the maintenance is upped to another level.  

Every race takes something out of the track - you have to put something back or you get into the deficit that Hastings, Ellerslie, Te Rapa, Awapuni, Riccarton and Trentham have found themselves in.  Instead of this throwing sand at the track I would have dug up the soil (which they have done anyway) and rejuvenated it so it was an ideal growing medium for turf e.g. like the natural sandy loam or silt loams with a good structure both organic and inorganic.

[Murray Fish]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

you have to put something back or you get into the deficit that Hastings, Ellerslie, Te Rapa, Awapuni, Riccarton and Trentham have found themselves in.

In my world view,  this massive historical under evestment is at the  core of why racing Is a Sunset Industry.... Add in the reality that more than over 50%  of NZers have found that their discretionary money has been 40 on a long term excremental decline! 

Having said that! lol, can't believe how keen I am to be On a Course friday and sunday in the deep south! I wonder how the fields will back up!