Business Case - CJC Riccarton All Weather Track - here it is!

[Chief Stipe]

22 minutes ago, nomates said:

So many angles to this , how will the track race , how will it race with heavy rain , will there be track bias , going to be so interesting .

A key question to be answered for me is what impact pre-race grooming of the poly-fill will have.  From what I've read you can't just leave it untouched from one week to the next.  They need to groom everyday.

There is also differences in how the surface presents based on air temperature, moisture and depth of grooming.

I hope they will still take going stick and/or penetrometer readings to give an indication rather than just say "synthetic"!

[nomates]

20 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

A key question to be answered for me is what impact pre-race grooming of the poly-fill will have.  From what I've read you can't just leave it untouched from one week to the next.  They need to groom everyday.

There is also differences in how the surface presents based on air temperature, moisture and depth of grooming.

I hope they will still take going stick and/or penetrometer readings to give an indication rather than just say "synthetic"!

I would hope now they have bought the product they will be following all instructions and advice , but there is occasion where people tend to think more than they do and go with what they think , 6 meetings till the end of the season when we should be getting some ideas around the track and how it is holding up to training and regular racing on top of jumpouts etc .

[Freda]

On 19/04/2021 at 8:25 PM, Chief Stipe said:

A key question to be answered for me is what impact pre-race grooming of the poly-fill will have.  From what I've read you can't just leave it untouched from one week to the next.  They need to groom everyday.

There is also differences in how the surface presents based on air temperature, moisture and depth of grooming.

I hope they will still take going stick and/or penetrometer readings to give an indication rather than just say "synthetic"!

I think overseas AWT's are shown as being  'standard' ,  'fast' or 'slow'.       Shouldn't think there would be any need to go further than that.

[Chief Stipe]

2 hours ago, Freda said:

I think overseas AWT's are shown as being  'standard' ,  'fast' or 'slow'.       Shouldn't think there would be any need to go further than that.

So the transition from each of these conditions is black and white i.e. there is no graduated movement between them?

The AWT surface is no different to a natural surface it is subject to mechanical intervention and weather.  Either of which can change the firmness of the surface.  Why not use a penetrometer or going stick to measure the surface - at the very least you will have a comparison between what is the expected parameters from a properly maintained surface and/or the a comparison to the same measurements on a turf track.

There is ample evidence that the quality and amount of grooming can make a significant difference to how the AWT surface presents.  Surely having a measurement taken is a form of quality control that makes it fair for all Trainers and also provides valuable information to punters.

Wouldn't a trainer like to know if a Fast AWT was the equivalent of a G3 or a G2?

[Chief Stipe]

Seems NZTR are not ready for racing yet on the AWT's.  This is the information we get on the surface from yesterday at Cambridge:

[Freda]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Seems NZTR are not ready for racing yet on the AWT's.  This is the information we get on the surface from yesterday at Cambridge:

On 18/04/2021 at 11:38 AM, Chief Stipe said:

 

Wow.  That's informative. 

[nomates]

4 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Seems NZTR are not ready for racing yet on the AWT's.  This is the information we get on the surface from yesterday at Cambridge:

What's your problem , today's track at Tauranga is wet , is that not enough information for us dumb ass punters .

[Gospel of Judas]

Remember more deception! better for certain people... who cares about ripping off those punters! 

[Chief Stipe]

22 hours ago, Freda said:

Wow.  That's informative. 

How hard would it be to walk around with a Going Stick and produce firmness and sheer figures?  All we get is the surface was "Synthetic"!  

I can see it now Pitty and Freda bitching about how the AWT played differently today than it did a week ago.  Pitty wanting it rolled with a heavy roller and Freda wanting it fluffed up and groomed properly.

[Freda]

Won't be long to wait to find out, anyway.

It will be trials-ready by the new season apparently. 

[Pitman]

3 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

How hard would it be to walk around with a Going Stick and produce firmness and sheer figures?  All we get is the surface was "Synthetic"!  

I can see it now Pitty and Freda bitching about how the AWT played differently today than it did a week ago.  Pitty wanting it rolled with a heavy roller and Freda wanting it fluffed up and groomed properly.

 

As all race days are going to be industry days in the winter months we will have very few runners if any BUT what a great training and trialing facility YES!!!

[Freda]

3 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

How hard would it be to walk around with a Going Stick and produce firmness and sheer figures?  All we get is the surface was "Synthetic"!  

I can see it now Pitty and Freda bitching about how the AWT played differently today than it did a week ago.  Pitty wanting it rolled with a heavy roller and Freda wanting it fluffed up and groomed properly.

Pitty and Freda don't argue or bitch.   At worst - we agree to disagree.        😇

[Chief Stipe]

19 minutes ago, Freda said:

Pitty and Freda don't argue or bitch.   At worst - we agree to disagree.        😇

Not even flick the odd used horseshoe at each other?

[Chief Stipe]

50 minutes ago, Pitman said:

 

As all race days are going to be industry days in the winter months we will have very few runners if any BUT what a great training and trialing facility YES!!!

So will you asking for Going Stick measurements before each official trial or race meeting on behalf of the revenue providing punter's?

Or will you be slipping the Track Manager a hundy to roll it pre-meeting?

[Freda]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Not even flick the odd used horseshoe at each other?

Not even.

[Chief Stipe]

38 minutes ago, Freda said:

Not even.

So you guys have kissed and made up behind the stables?

[Freda]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

So you guys have kissed and made up behind the stables?

We were never enemies. 

[Chief Stipe]

Mmmmm what happens when synthetic track maintenance goes awry!

 

[Freda]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Mmmmm what happens when synthetic track maintenance goes awry!

 

From reading the article,  it appears the reference is to a dirt track - as in American dirt - not a polytrack. 

Towards the end of the article, thoughts are voiced about the wisdom of trying to repair this dirt track, with the option of installing a synthetic surface.

So, not apples with apples.

[Chief Stipe]

I guess those inbred Tasmanian's have a few more clues than those one eyed Cantab's!

[nomates]

On 22/04/2021 at 11:16 AM, Pitman said:

As all race days are going to be industry days in the winter months we will have very few runners if any BUT what a great training and trialing facility YES!!!

Another issue for SI numbers to run on the A/W at Riccarton , the SI's biggest trainer wont be propping up their fields so this is going to be very interesting where the numbers are going to come from .

[Freda]

On 25/04/2021 at 12:36 PM, nomates said:

Another issue for SI numbers to run on the A/W at Riccarton , the SI's biggest trainer wont be propping up their fields so this is going to be very interesting where the numbers are going to come from .

Looking at the new season's calendar,  we have 7 races on the AWT  May-July, two on the turf,  at Riccarton.  One each in that period for Timaru and Ashburton.   

Hmmm.

[Chief Stipe]

13 minutes ago, Freda said:

Looking at the new season's calendar,  we have 7 races on the AWT  May-July, two on the turf,  at Riccarton.  One each in that period for Timaru and Ashburton.   

Hmmm.

So to translate for our readers - RICCARTON IS NOT PLANNING TO DO ANY TURF TRACK RENNOVATION.

Watch the shyte hit the fan in October!

[nomates]

2 hours ago, Freda said:

Looking at the new season's calendar,  we have 7 races on the AWT  May-July, two on the turf,  at Riccarton.  One each in that period for Timaru and Ashburton.   

Hmmm.

So trying to fundementally force trainers and owners hands into running on the A/W by giving them very few other alternatives . This could cause a reverse reaction in owners just not bothering putting their horses into work , or if their horse was tried on the A/W and disliked it forcing them to retire their horse because of lack of grass track oppertunities .

A very dangerous path to tread .

I see up north that the weeks where there is an A/W meeting at Cambridge there is mostly only a Saturday on grass , there a few mid week grass track meetings sprinkled about but not many , again trying to foce peoples hands .

So will it reach a stage there where horses that owners don't or can't run on the A/W will wait for oppertunities on grass and we end up with bulging nom's at those grass track meetings , and then would NZTR do enough splitting of races to ensure all those horses get an oppertunity or will they keep the numbers down to force them back to the A/W . Again a dangerous path to go down .

I must say tho with the A/W track racing about to get up and running it , for me , is the most interesting thing to happen in our racing for a long time , i am watching with great intrigue , it is will be fascinating to see how it unfolds .

Could be blood on the carpet .

[mikeynz]

5 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

So to translate for our readers - RICCARTON IS NOT PLANNING TO DO ANY TURF TRACK RENNOVATION.

Watch the shyte hit the fan in October!

Riccarton not doing any renovations,maybe what would help would be to can the three days in August where the track probably gets the shit beaten out of it,maybe the first Saturday shift to can you guess?.............Timaru and Riccarton race the big day the following weekend,as jumping is basically gone,maybe the washdyke meeting could even be a feature meeting to kick off the season or is that too much of a good idea?

Edited May 2, 2021 by mikeynz