Racing NZ Bosses Consider Radical Changes

[Chief Stipe]

Racing: Bosses consider change after embarrassment

www.nzherald.co.nz

Racing bosses aren’t ruling out a total overhaul of how tracks are managed after the embarrassment of one of New Zealand’s biggest race meetings being canned on Saturday.

The last nine races of New Zealand Cup and 1000 Guineas day, which was to be held in front of a 15,000- strong sell-out Riccarton crowd on Saturday, had to be transferred to Monday after a horse slipped in race three. That raised concerns about track safety, particularly at the top of the straight, and racing was halted.

Riccarton will now hold the rest of its biggest meeting of the season in front of a small crowd, and with Monday being the poorest turnover day of the week, the change will hit the industry hard.

Canterbury Jockey Club boss Tim Mills was devastated by the fiasco but says the investigation into how the track became slippery after a week of almost exclusively fine weather will have to wait.

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“We understand everybody’s frustrations and our team are feeling it worse than anybody,” says Mills.

“But we have a Group 1 race day to run on Monday and that is no small thing because we also had a huge crowd here on Saturday, many of who stayed until when our licence for the day finished at 6.30pm.

“So we have to clean up, set up again, organise staff and food and drinks for Monday and then hold a major race meeting.

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“We have heard ideas and even I have theories on what I think happened with the track but we simply don’t have time to investigate those fully yet. But we will as soon as we can.”

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Bruce Sharrock was frustrated by the latest and most embarrassing track issue for the code, coming just a day after the Awapuni meeting was abandoned.

“We are very disappointed with what has become a pattern of meetings having issues, which we thought we had put systems in place to stop,” said Sharrock.

“But clearly those aren’t working and we may need to go a step further, get even more radical.”

That could mean NZTR taking charge of all track management around the country, rather than individual clubs employing their own track staff, with NZTR taking funding used for those purposes away from some or all clubs.

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The majority of industry participants the Herald spoke to over the weekend suggested the Riccarton grass was too long, and water from irrigation on Wednesday and Thursday and overnight rain on Friday was trapped on the surface but not drying because of the long grass above.

Riccarton staff mowed the track today and ran machinery over it to help the surface open up and dry so officials are confident Monday’s nine-race meeting will go ahead.

There is no reason for punters to change their opinion on the 1000 Guineas, which still looks Legarto’s race to lose. The first race starts at 12.57pm, with the Guineas at 2.45pm and NZ Cup at 5.06pm.

[curious]

Canterbury Jockey Club boss Tim Mills was devastated by the fiasco but says the investigation into how the track became slippery after a week of almost exclusively fine weather will have to wait. ...

“We have heard ideas and even I have theories on what I think happened with the track but we simply don’t have time to investigate those fully yet. But we will as soon as we can.”

Those remarks have to be a fucking joke. The whole world knows why the track was slippery. It was reported by jockeys, stipes and shown in HD vision on trackside. No investigation is required. The CJC failed to mow the track in accord with NZTR guidelines. Not much point NZTR issuing policies if clubs are going to negligently ignore them for whatever reason. Time to stand up and put your hand up Tim. The buck has to stop somewhere.

[KickintheKods]

Don't open your mouth Tim. There's NOTHING you can say to fix this issue.

[Assange]

They all deserve to be embarrassed. They are all on the big bucks. Go earn them.

[billy connolly]

3 hours ago, curious said:

Canterbury Jockey Club boss Tim Mills was devastated by the fiasco but says the investigation into how the track became slippery after a week of almost exclusively fine weather will have to wait. ...

“We have heard ideas and even I have theories on what I think happened with the track but we simply don’t have time to investigate those fully yet. But we will as soon as we can.”

Preposterous.

I've only walked the Riccarton track twice in recent times and as soon as I set foot on that track I knew there was a problem, you Millsey have been at the wheelhouse of the CJC/Riccarton Park for close to 30 years and still wouldn't have a clue.

There's not enough rooted grass on your track Millsey, which means that any recent moisture which hasn't had a chance to penetrate will immediately cause problems. The grass is healthy but there's simply not enough of it... not dense/thick enough and if let get too long you're asking for trouble.

Riccarton in November should have a dense and cushioned low cropped sole of carpet-like perennial rye-grass. There are further problems with the soil base since the reconstruction approx 25 years ago but the above could and should've been remedied immediately.

[Huey]

3 minutes ago, billy connolly said:

Preposterous.

I've only walked the Riccarton track twice in recent times and as soon as I set foot on that track I knew there was a problem, you Millsey have been at the wheelhouse of the CJC/Riccarton Park for close to 30 years and still wouldn't have a clue.

There's not enough rooted grass on your track Millsey, which means that any recent moisture which hasn't had a chance to penetrate will immediately cause problems. The grass is healthy but there's simply not enough of it... not dense/thick enough and if let get too long you're asking for trouble.

Riccarton in November should have a dense and cushioned low cropped sole of carpet-like perennial rye-grass. There are further problems with the soil base since the reconstruction approx 25 years ago but the above could and should've been remedied immediately.

So the Chief was right all along?

[curious]

10 minutes ago, billy connolly said:

There's not enough rooted grass on your track Millsey,

Last time I was there it looked like almost all the grass was rooted.

[nomates]

Stackhouse said after one of his wins that the track was a bit bare and patchy , not complimentary at all .

[Reefton]

NZTR considering taking over the management of all the tracks in NZ? 

Are they trying to organise more effing abandonments?

Their man they appointed to supervise the upper South Island tracks (Mr A Chapman from Riccarton no less) gave us a great demo of how to produce a track this week.

[Ludwig]

1 hour ago, Reefton said:

NZTR considering taking over the management of all the tracks in NZ? 

Are they trying to organise more effing abandonments?

Their man they appointed to supervise the upper South Island tracks (Mr A Chapman from Riccarton no less) gave us a great demo of how to produce a track this week.

The current govt believes that the way forward is to centralise everything____schools, hospitals, water, polytechnics . So let's add track management to the list of "success".

[holy ravioli]

1 hour ago, Ludwig said:

The current govt believes that the way forward is to centralise everything____schools, hospitals, water, polytechnics . So let's add track management to the list of "success".

And pray tell what is the real way forward....privatise vital utilities and milk the working class?

I see dentists are screaming for the gummint to subsidise dental care for...all.

Would be a nice sinecure for them andsave them having to reduce their eyewatering rates to attract more...business.

God knows what makes you think the gummint wants to manage racing tracks!Are you..pissed?

[Reefton]

Would the not be better to say 'what are the tracks where this never happens doing right?' not ' how can we get it set up so it happens to everyone?'

We are only a one day Club but last year after the Trotting meeting and with forecast seven days of 30 plus degree temperatures before our meeting in prospect we went all out with irrigation and it worked. We didn't need Wellington to tell us - it was common sense.  But we also make sure our irrigation(k-line) is working properly and is covering the ground evenly.  It is moved twice a day to give one and a half days to cover the entire track so there were basically 4 laps before the meeting.  It's not hard and we aren't experts but we're not mugs either.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Reefton

[Reefton]

1 minute ago, holy ravioli said:

And pray tell what is the real way forward....privatise vital utilities and milk the working class?

I see dentists are screaming for the gummint to subsidise dental care for...all.

Would be a nice sinecure for them andsave them having to reduce their eyewatering rates to attract more...business.

God knows what makes you think the gummint wants to manage racing tracks!Are you..pissed?

I think he might have been taking the mickey

[holy ravioli]

3 minutes ago, Reefton said:

I think he might have been taking the mickey

About the tracks probably but not his discredited ideology of the efficiency' of private ..enterprise.

[Ludwig]

27 minutes ago, Reefton said:

Would the not be better to say 'what are the tracks where this never happens doing right?' not ' how can we get it set up so it happens to everyone?'

We are only a one day Club but last year after the Trotting meeting and with forecast seven days of 30 plus degree temperatures before our meeting in prospect we went all out with irrigation and it worked. We didn't need Wellington to tell us - it was common sense.  But we also make sure our irrigation(k-line) is working properly and is covering the ground evenly.  It is moved twice a day to give one and a half days to cover the entire track so there were basically 4 laps before the meeting.  It's not hard and we aren't experts but we're not mugs either.

It's fascinating that the tracks where the problems are occurring are the higher profile tracks such as Awapuni and Riccarton. Yet smaller centres such as Reefton seem to cope just fine.

Perhaps it should be the smaller successful clubs who offer advice to the city ones, rather than the other way round.?

[Reefton]

22 minutes ago, holy ravioli said:

About the tracks probably but not his discredited ideology of the efficiency' of private ..enterprise.

Sorry HR I can't quite get the gist of what you are saying.  Private enterprise didn't run the schools or the water or the Hospitals(well not the vast majority of them) or the polytechs

But I drove to Christchurch today to attend a race meeting(I had left by the time of your triumph sorry Pam!) and I passed literally hundreds of trucks carting all manner of stuff(Logs, milk, frozen goods, general freight) I also on multiple occasions passed close by a perfectly good railway line between the Coast and Christchurch and wondered to myself why NZ Rail (a government organisation) is not able and much cheaper to cart those goods.

And if there are hundred to and from the Coast there will be thousands on SH1 (which coincidentally also runs close to a railway line).  If I ever need a to know why private enterprise works better I need only think of that.

 

 

[Reefton]

1 hour ago, Ludwig said:

It's fascinating that the tracks where the problems are occurring are the higher profile tracks such as Awapuni and Riccarton. Yet smaller centres such as Reefton seem to cope just fine.

Perhaps it should be the smaller successful clubs who offer advice to the city ones, rather than the other way round.?

Well I have no idea on Riccarton and don't really want to publicly condemn them because (1) I am sure they did what they thought was best and (2) Murphys law says it will happen to us in seven or so weeks time BUT............

If there was an issue with the irrigation being blown by the wind and therefore all the water dropping in one lane (as appears to have happened) why don't they get a water cart and the verti drainer(the spiker machine) and have the cart follow the verti drainer around with the boom very close to the ground so the water went precisely where they wanted it to.  Yes it would be slow but it would be consistent.  I know it would have been windy in Canterbury because it pissed down here for a lot of last week but too many people knew of the issues(long grass and inconsistent watering) and the 'blundering' surely ought to have been ringing alarm bells?????

Apart from anything else wasn't irrigation inconsistency the problem at Rangiora?  Was no lesson learnt?

They should be consulting KT Myers(Farmer and Horse Trainer - and good bloke -  who knows his stuff on tracks)

 

[Freda]

I spoke to a couple of venerable horsemen early this morning, about all manner of things but mostly racetracks and racehorses  ....the Dennis Brothers.

They know a wee bit about farming too...and are not at all impressed with Riccarton.

[Doomed]

One thing that appears obvious to me with all the problems at Riccarton and Wingatui is how crucial Timaru is to SI racing. There must be more horses trained within a 3 hour radius of Timaru than any other SI track.

I think an indication of how genuine NZTR is at wanting to fix SI racing would be whether they are big enough to come out and say "we have totally stuffed up about Timaru, and Messara was wrong. We need to spend money to make the Timaru track first class."

I get the impression that the powers that be think SI racing was totally sorted once they built the AWT. Just as they think the CD is all good now that the Awapuni AWT is up and going.

[Special Agent]

They are deluded on both counts.  What a shambolic few days Friday and Saturday proved.

I agree with you Doomed, NZTR need to admit the mistakes, drop the axe sharply on the heads of RACE and the CJC, and move on, as better administrators and better people.

[Freda]

Agree 100%.

But I doubt it will happen.

The prospect of NZTR interfering even more in club affairs horrifies me.

Given their abysmal record of inept decisions and profligate financial behaviour, plans going forward showing complete lack of vision....I could go on..but they should stick to their knitting and take a hard look at their own organisation.

[Chief Stipe]

7 hours ago, Reefton said:

They should be consulting KT Myers(Farmer and Horse Trainer - and good bloke -  who knows his stuff on tracks)

I thought the problem was it rained?  

Doesn't matter how many aged farmers you throw at the track they won't be able to fix the fundamental problem the soil is absolutely fucked.

The best track manager in the world isn't going to fix that by tinkering with verti drains, sand and irrigation.  Let alone be able to manage it.

 

[curious]

When did it rain? Saturday night after the abandonment?

[Huey]

4 hours ago, Doomed said:

One thing that appears obvious to me with all the problems at Riccarton and Wingatui is how crucial Timaru is to SI racing. There must be more horses trained within a 3 hour radius of Timaru than any other SI track.

I think an indication of how genuine NZTR is at wanting to fix SI racing would be whether they are big enough to come out and say "we have totally stuffed up about Timaru, and Messara was wrong. We need to spend money to make the Timaru track first class."

I get the impression that the powers that be think SI racing was totally sorted once they built the AWT. Just as they think the CD is all good now that the Awapuni AWT is up and going.

Exactly right, the venue plan was an absolute farce . Put together by a bunch of idealistic yet ill informed persons & was never going to work . Elements of the M report also need ignoring , racing needs to head back to its roots with regards to the tracks or it simply won't survive.

[Doomed]

1 minute ago, Huey said:

Exactly right, the venue plan was an absolute farce . Put together by a bunch of idealistic yet ill informed persons & was never going to work . Elements of the M report also need ignoring , racing needs to head back to its roots with regards to the tracks or it simply won't survive.

Every now and again you want to tick "like" twice.