Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Industry Release - Awapuni and Riccarton Abandonments Nov 22 FINAL(8).pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Why now post this report from early December last year? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 1 hour ago, curious said: Why now post this report from early December last year? In the coming months it could be timely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefton Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: In the coming months it could be timely. It could be but lets not prejudge the way the tracks are presented Oatham did that at Reefton and he hasn't heard the last of it(and nor, they tell me, is he too happy about the Club's reaction and continual chasing the topic). Fingers crossed for all concerned at both venues that there are no further issues. NZ racing does not need it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huey Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 12 hours ago, curious said: Why now post this report from early December last year? Because someone called them out on Channel 2 , good work by Fairy Flash in this instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 45 minutes ago, Huey said: Because someone called them out on Channel 2 , good work by Fairy Flash in this instance. Except that Fairy is obviously also 3 months behind the play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 54 minutes ago, curious said: Except that Fairy is obviously also 3 months behind the play. Well the report wasn't easy to find on the NZTR website. What triggered me to look at it again was the recent abandonment of the Rangiora Harness Meeting. Abandoned-Meeting-Rangiora-HRC-050323-v2.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 9 hours ago, Reefton said: It could be but lets not prejudge the way the tracks are presented Oatham did that at Reefton and he hasn't heard the last of it(and nor, they tell me, is he too happy about the Club's reaction and continual chasing the topic). Fingers crossed for all concerned at both venues that there are no further issues. NZ racing does not need it. But isn't the fix just another quick fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 12 hours ago, Reefton said: It could be but lets not prejudge the way the tracks are presented Oatham did that at Reefton and he hasn't heard the last of it(and nor, they tell me, is he too happy about the Club's reaction and continual chasing the topic). Fingers crossed for all concerned at both venues that there are no further issues. NZ racing does not need it. Isn't this just more of the same old same old? It hasn't worked that well for other tracks they have tried it on e.g. Ellerslie and Te Rapa. 6. Testing by Wai Design revealed that pop ups were not operating consistently with a difference in performance of up to 40%. The CJC have undertaken a review of the irrigation system to improve the uniformity. 7. The lack of a suitably aggressive annual renovation program was identified as a contributing factor to the deterioration of the turf and track profile. 8. Riccarton is currently undergoing a full turf renovation with all grass being removed down to 30mm, scarifying, sub-soiling and verti-draining. The track is currently being cored, under sown and fertilised. 9. The Club have also been advised and have agreed that a more aggressive annual renovation program would help ensure the issue does not develop again in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefton Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 9 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: Isn't this just more of the same old same old? It hasn't worked that well for other tracks they have tried it on e.g. Ellerslie and Te Rapa. 6. Testing by Wai Design revealed that pop ups were not operating consistently with a difference in performance of up to 40%. The CJC have undertaken a review of the irrigation system to improve the uniformity. 7. The lack of a suitably aggressive annual renovation program was identified as a contributing factor to the deterioration of the turf and track profile. 8. Riccarton is currently undergoing a full turf renovation with all grass being removed down to 30mm, scarifying, sub-soiling and verti-draining. The track is currently being cored, under sown and fertilised. 9. The Club have also been advised and have agreed that a more aggressive annual renovation program would help ensure the issue does not develop again in the future. I have no real idea on that stuff but wasn't that what was happening back in November/December? It would strike me that pop up irrigation fittings in a place prone to wind like Riccarton would be a bit of a silly idea. If you have k line you can place it to ensure that the area you want watered gets watered(under monitoring for wind dropping or increasing of course) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefton Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: But isn't the fix just another quick fix? Quick fixes are what the 'Experts' do to make sure they are called in again on a regular basis so it wouldn't surprise me if it is a 'quick fix' yes If you want it fixed properly give O'Malley a call Oh that's right he hasn't got half the alphabet after his name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 3 minutes ago, Reefton said: It would strike me that pop up irrigation fittings in a place prone to wind like Riccarton would be a bit of a silly idea. If you have k line you can place it to ensure that the area you want watered gets watered(under monitoring for wind dropping or increasing of course) The other issue with irrigation on the Riccarton track is the inconsistent soil conditions i.e. some parts drain better or retain water better than others due to differing levels of compaction and clay/organic (soil structure) content. So for example if you applied 20mm of irrigation some parts of the track would absorb more than others. This is noted in the report but there is no mention of reviewing the Water Budget data which I assume all track managers maintain. The report does say that there wasn't enough irrigation to prevent the soil moisture content getting into deficit in the first place. Again where is the Water Budget data? Unfortunately the state of the soil structure means you have to keep water levels up at all times rather than waiting until a couple of weeks or less from raceday. It is impossible to play catchup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 12 minutes ago, Reefton said: Quick fixes are what the 'Experts' do to make sure they are called in again on a regular basis so it wouldn't surprise me if it is a 'quick fix' yes If you want it fixed properly give O'Malley a call Oh that's right he hasn't got half the alphabet after his name Even your guru couldn't fix the problem without major renovation and resting of the track. Even dairy farmers renovate and rest their paddocks nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 18 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: Even your guru couldn't fix the problem without major renovation and resting of the track. Even dairy farmers renovate and rest their paddocks nowadays. The thing is, Chief, that he wouldn't need to be TOLD to renovate/rest the track. Neither would he have needed to be TOLD that the irrigators were not working consistently. Anyone who walks around the track regularly can see that. Oh - and he wouldn't have needed to be told to CUT THE EFFING GRASS. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 24 minutes ago, Freda said: The thing is, Chief, that he wouldn't need to be TOLD to renovate/rest the track. Neither would he have needed to be TOLD that the irrigators were not working consistently. Anyone who walks around the track regularly can see that. Oh - and he wouldn't have needed to be told to CUT THE EFFING GRASS. But it isn't the Track Manager's decision to renovate or rest the track!! Did the Track Manager not inform the CJC CEO and Board of the irrigation problem? As for cutting the grass that wasn't the cause of the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 5 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: As for cutting the grass that wasn't the cause of the problem. It was the primary cause of the immediate problem that caused the cup day abandonment 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 (edited) 2 minutes ago, curious said: It was the primary cause of the immediate problem that caused the cup day abandonment Damn right it was. Edited March 7, 2023 by Freda 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 2 minutes ago, curious said: It was the primary cause of the immediate problem that caused the cup day abandonment Where does it say that in the report? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 Just now, Freda said: Damn right it wwas. I disagree. It was one symptom of a number of issues and mismanagement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Points 3.5 and 3.8. Length quoted as 300ml against an advised length of between 80 - 100 ml. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 6 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: Where does it say that in the report? A lot of matted turf growth with long grass stems lying on the surface of the track was evident. Where it was very dense, this matted material would have slowed the rate of drying so that any excess of water present at the surface would not have dried at quickly as would normally be expected.... Further to this the CJC are reviewing their mowing schedule, turf grooming and equipment which may also have contributed to the turf issues. Aside from that they mowed the track properly with suitable equipment that day and it was deemed safe for racing on Monday. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefton Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 11 minutes ago, curious said: A lot of matted turf growth with long grass stems lying on the surface of the track was evident. Where it was very dense, this matted material would have slowed the rate of drying so that any excess of water present at the surface would not have dried at quickly as would normally be expected.... Further to this the CJC are reviewing their mowing schedule, turf grooming and equipment which may also have contributed to the turf issues. Aside from that they mowed the track properly with suitable equipment that day and it was deemed safe for racing on Monday. Didn't someone tell me that the Riccarton track staff all had the day off on the Friday(admittedly Show Day) before the Cup Day? They must have been bloody confident that their track was hunky dory! Strange given the number of horses who 'blundered' at the starts on days one and two. There is a simple(to my way of thinking) fix here. NZTR should have an independent panel of ex jockeys to inspect each track the day before the races. You only need to look at our debacle to realise the stipes leave a bit to be desired but the likes of JW Walker MJ Skelton RJ McCann and DM Walsh were in the area for the meet(that's about 6000 winners I would say) . I am sure a $100 payment for a quick look the day before and an opinion would be most welcome. Instead of that we got DM Walsh and TR Moseley saying the track was perfectly OK pre-races but a stipe who was utterly determined he was going to shut the meeting down(and did so despite being able to find not one bit of evidence that there was a slip or skid). People like them know what it is like to hit the deck and they know the characteristics of a safe(or unsafe as the case may be) track. It is pretty apparent that in the days before Cup Day there were ex jockeys who had grave concerns about the state of the track and the long grass in particular. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 8, 2023 Author Share Posted March 8, 2023 1 hour ago, curious said: A lot of matted turf growth with long grass stems lying on the surface of the track was evident. Where it was very dense, this matted material would have slowed the rate of drying so that any excess of water present at the surface would not have dried at quickly as would normally be expected.... Further to this the CJC are reviewing their mowing schedule, turf grooming and equipment which may also have contributed to the turf issues. Aside from that they mowed the track properly with suitable equipment that day and it was deemed safe for racing on Monday. 1 hour ago, Freda said: Points 3.5 and 3.8. Length quoted as 300ml against an advised length of between 80 - 100 ml. It still is a product of a number of issues. "Mow the lawns" doesn't fix the root cause. Excuse the pun. Further, you cannot guarantee that mowing the grass to the recommended height would have fixed the problem. It certainly would have helped but the underlying issues still remain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: It still is a product of a number of issues. "Mow the lawns" doesn't fix the root cause. Excuse the pun. Further, you cannot guarantee that mowing the grass to the recommended height would have fixed the problem. It certainly would have helped but the underlying issues still remain. I said the "primary immediate cause". The soil structure and condition issues causing the root problems have been there for quarter of a century. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 7 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: But it isn't the Track Manager's decision to renovate or rest the track!! Did the Track Manager not inform the CJC CEO and Board of the irrigation problem? As for cutting the grass that wasn't the cause of the problem. I don't agree it isn't the Track Manager's decision to renovate or rest the track, unless he is Track Manager in name only. Is it not his job to manage the track? Pat Reardon managed the Riccarton course proper, training tracks and grounds for many years. He came from a farming background. He knew what he was doing. I'd call him a Track Manager rather than the Caretaker title he had. For a "Track Manager" to not know how to mow correctly I'd have to firstly question the recruiting process. Secondly is the chain of command and relationship between track management and board flawed? Thirdly, there is always advice and support available, never be too proud to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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