Chimbu Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 If, as many believe, that there will be injuries and fatalities directly relating to the AWT's how will they be able to balance their blinkered belief in their AWT's and their requirement to uphold their horse welfare considerations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Was asked a question yesterday, which someone may be able to answer for him? How many horses in training on/at the Cambridge facilities? And of those, how many use the AWT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 2 hours ago, Freda said: Was asked a question yesterday, which someone may be able to answer for him? How many horses in training on/at the Cambridge facilities? And of those, how many use the AWT? Answer to the first question 1000-1200. Don't know on the second one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloggs Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Talking to a leading trainer about tracks, ''best track in the country [AUS] Newcastle. Best rack ever seen, Shatin, worst track ever seen, ''a few in NZ come to mind''....I didn't push him.......but the tracks he mentioned as 'best'.......both Strathayr. The Fwits in all probability didn't conduct a 'Vox-populi' I bet, if they had of polled leading trainers, they would have had all the answers they needed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huey Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 1 hour ago, Joe Bloggs said: Talking to a leading trainer about tracks, ''best track in the country [AUS] Newcastle. Best rack ever seen, Shatin, worst track ever seen, ''a few in NZ come to mind''....I didn't push him.......but the tracks he mentioned as 'best'.......both Strathayr. The Fwits in all probability didn't conduct a 'Vox-populi' I bet, if they had of polled leading trainers, they would have had all the answers they needed. Youre right they would have only asked a select few, the same ones who have got the game heading in the direction it is. Your trainer mate been fielding a few phone calls from kiwi trainers on how to train on AWTs? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloggs Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 LOL Huey, he hangs up........he can't understand their accent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 9 hours ago, Freda said: Was asked a question yesterday, which someone may be able to answer for him? How many horses in training on/at the Cambridge facilities? And of those, how many use the AWT? I made a few discreet enquiries...answer - very few now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwig Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 55 minutes ago, Freda said: I made a few discreet enquiries...answer - very few now. Do we know how many Riccarton trainers are lining up enthusiastically for the AWT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 59 minutes ago, Freda said: I made a few discreet enquiries...answer - very few now. I just had a quick squiz at the Cambridge Jockey Club Trackwork reports on https://www.cambridgejockeyclub.co.nz/category/trackwork/ Seems you may well be right Freda. Very few mentions of trackwork on the AWT - the vast majority is on the Plough. The last report where any significant numbers worked on it was 8 December. I did notice this report from 19 December 2020 - On the all-weather track, KHUFU was outstanding, dashing 800m in 46.7, sprinting the last 600m in 33.4. He is set to debut at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 LOL - bloody hindsight! Just had a look at Matamata trackwork for the 19th January. 2yr old On The Bubbles worked with the 3yr old Need I Say More running their last 600m quicker than Amarelinha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 Shame the track was off! But I guess that doesn't worry music goers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloggs Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 NZ's only living brain donors.........Cambridge / Riccarton brains trust, the train is gathering speed, the wreck is coming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 On 31/01/2021 at 3:57 PM, Ludwig said: Do we know how many Riccarton trainers are lining up enthusiastically for the AWT? Well, there was enthusiastic support initially. Some are still positive, with the notion that an improved training surface will be the outcome. Hopefully they are right. But, the negative feedback coming from Cambridge is not encouraging. And most of the supporters didn't consider the very difficult conditions we now have to work around, I don't think it entered their heads. There is provision for a new gallop grass, that at least will be very welcome. But, it will be late spring at the soonest before it will be usable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 On 3/02/2021 at 7:28 AM, Chief Stipe said: Shame the track was off! But I guess that doesn't worry music goers! Good idea, on the face of things, to utilise the facilities in this way. But [ and there may well have been a specific reason why the Friday was the day picked ] what would have been wrong with combining the music gig with raceday? a package ticket deal could have had had some crossover value - patrons attending the races and then remaining on course for the music? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 On 18/01/2021 at 2:23 PM, Chief Stipe said: Unlike the other two cabs off the rank Cambridge were first and would have had to provide some form of business case for the PGF. I think Cambridge provided a fair bit of their own money, i.e.. the PGF wasn't the complete funder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloggs Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 2 hours ago, Freda said: Good idea, on the face of things, to utilise the facilities in this way. But [ and there may well have been a specific reason why the Friday was the day picked ] what would have been wrong with combining the music gig with raceday? a package ticket deal could have had had some crossover value - patrons attending the races and then remaining on course for the music? Stop it, you're making sense and that's just not on. Newmarket nights, they do it in summer at that halcyon track, big name acts too, they pull brilliant crowds and like Chch it's doesn't get dark until late, so a win win........why not give them a call Tim, oh that's right you don't call anyone for advice, you should, it just might be a wonderful shot in the arm for an ailing industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 3 hours ago, Freda said: I think Cambridge provided a fair bit of their own money, i.e.. the PGF wasn't the complete funder. Nor is the PGF the complete funder of any of the three. Up to $6m needs to be found from the each club. That $6m would have gone a long way to fix the Riccarton Turf track which as you know is a complete disaster zone at the moment. We have traversed the Cambridge Jockey Club AWT funding at length before. The Cambridge Jockey Club is not the majority funder of their AWT the PGF is. NZTR underwrote them initially by $400k so they could secure funding. If the cost exceeded $12.7m then NZTR promised to pitch up with $700k. Will be interesting to see in the accounts what the transactions ended up being unless of course if they are hidden within a particular account. If anyone could have funded their own AWT it was the Cambridge Jockey Club with the number of horses that are trained there - 1,200. Not only did they not completely fund it they ended up turning their "training facility" into a new racing venue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 3 hours ago, Freda said: There is provision for a new gallop grass, that at least will be very welcome. But, it will be late spring at the soonest before it will be usable. What's the point when the main racing surface is stuffed? If Riccarton trainers are taking their horses elsewhere at the moment to gallop them what does that tell you about the main turf track? Where is the funding coming from to fix that? Is there a strategic plan to do that? Or will Riccarton become solely an AWT racing venue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said: Where is the funding coming from to fix that? Is there a strategic plan to do that? Or will Riccarton become solely an AWT racing venue? Doesn't need fixing. It's fine. 😎😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Beau Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 10 hours ago, Freda said: Doesn't need fixing. It's fine. 😎😎 Freda, are you talking about the course proper at Riccarton when you say; "Doesn't need fixing". "It's fine". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 18 minutes ago, Dark Beau said: Freda, are you talking about the course proper at Riccarton when you say; "Doesn't need fixing". "It's fine". Think that might have been a tongue in cheek comment DB if I'm reading it correctly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Beau Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 Talking about the Cambridge AWT, I see that the horse Tar And Cement who won his trial there by 10 lengths 22 December, then went to Hastings 28 January and was hugely impressive, running the fastest sectionals [600 m & 800 m] all day. Leg Up [Trackside] yesterday morning made him their Maiden of the Week. Maybe we need to consider the AWT form after all, especially if they win on it well. P.S. John Gosden isn't afraid to use them in England for his very best, using it to kick off Enable's career and then using it again for her first start in 2020. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 7 hours ago, Dark Beau said: Talking about the Cambridge AWT, I see that the horse Tar And Cement who won his trial there by 10 lengths 22 December, then went to Hastings 28 January and was hugely impressive, running the fastest sectionals [600 m & 800 m] all day. "Tar And Cement" probably describes the AWT! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 8 hours ago, Dark Beau said: P.S. John Gosden isn't afraid to use them in England for his very best, using it to kick off Enable's career and then using it again for her first start in 2020. Godsen seems to prefer Turf to AWT going by the statistics of where he starts his horses. Also Godsen has a wide variety of surfaces to train on that would be the envy of any Australasian stable. Enable had 19 starts only three on AWT. She was beaten only 4 times with two of those losses the next race after running on an AWT. The surfaces were reported as "Standard to Slow" so obviously rain affected. She raced twice at Kempton Park (AWT) which is interesting. It is a Polytrack that cost $19 million pounds to build and recently has been costing $250k pounds a year to maintain. They also invested in an irrigation system to keep the track temperature down and to not allow it to get too hard and to prevent kick back. Apparently we have the new state of the art versions which are cheaper and don't need watering! The track was built by the same firm that is building NZ's. They stated in 2011: Large volumes of water needed to produce the ideal all-weather going necessitated investment in a state of the art irrigation system, which uses a high capacity ring main fed from a borehole with a 86 cu.m licence via powerful pumps to Briggs reels and booms. The irrigation system can put 25mm of water on the entire track in forty-eight hours, which also benefits the turf course. The surface itself was commissioned from Martin Collins Enterprises and is a new generation Polytrack mix of sixty-three percent silica sand, recycled materials and binding waxes. "Water is added to give 'life' to the surface - in direct contrast to turf, the warmer and dryer it gets, the slower the going - and to prevent 'kickback' which is uncomfortable for horses and riders. Our maintenance programme is dictated by the air temperature and moisture - the material also generates heat and, with an air temperature of 22OC, the ground temperature can be 48OC, so the aim is to get water on and keep it to a temperature of around 20OC," explains Barney. https://www.amenity.co.uk/news-media/all-weather-racing-a-success-story-at-kempton-park.html The Kempton AWT was "refurbished" only 5 years after installation: https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/kempton/media/press-releases/2016/07/kempton-park-completes-latest-all-weather-refurbishment1/ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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