Gold Circle members must be very

happy with the way GC is being run and managed by the Directors. The AGM is in a few weeks and 2 Directors resigned as per rotation and there was not 1 nomination to stand against them. Surely if the membership were unhappy, someone would have been nominated to stand against them? An obvious sign that everyone is happy with them.

There is no excuse for the apathy and i suppose we get what we allow........ but happy, i think not. Maybe they can Direct themselves to the grass track that is still in a shocking state after months & months..... and months. If there was an owners association in KZN with clout i would belong to that instead of GC.

Tigershark, where is the grass in such bad condition? The whole course or where? :blink:

Craig, i am not going to get into it with you as we did when the initial work was done but how long before we resume full racing on grass at Greyville? I for one spend 70% less betting on the Poly races and have told my trainer not to run my horse on that track.

I seen a jockey say, he's not blaming the turf for Antins Injury but how come there is still patches

Bob this is a sensitive subject for GC, its not the tracks fault, there are no patches but we are not holding a full race meeting on the surface yet......... so tired of the same old sh1t.

We had our quarterly breakfast with Graham Hawkins yesterday. Where the pens were being taken on and off the grass and the tractor pulling it at the 1200/1400 and 1600m mark I think they said, there were marks left. This is being addressed by hiring some equipment that Moses Mabida uses to keep the big concerts off the grass and it is working well and those areas getting back to looking like the rest of the grass which is good after the recent rain. We will never have a completely grass meeting at Greyville again and it will be split between the 2 surfaces. This will be done to keep it in good condition through out the year. Scottsville is apparently looking very very good.

T, I have to echo your sentiments about the F...g poly. Same old same old and no complaints ! Huh ? That is definately not what I am hearing Craig ? No one said a word about this in your last meeting ? I heared there are a few ears still singing !
I am glad if all is cool.
I must feel for most of the trainers trying to prep horses for the Cape/Gauteng season. Too late or as some have done moved their horses earlier this year. So yes all must be well.
Craig I respect you and your opinion but please not all of us are idiots.

Neigh, as Graham said yesterday, the guys that were suddenly complaining to him for the first time. As I have said time and again, my horses have pulled up better from the poly than ever before. Flyfirstclass and Chill being 2 of them. No one has said anyone is an idiot but I am telling you from my racing experience on the poly that my horses have pulled up better than they did on the grass and why should I change my mind if that is true? Are those guys/ girls that are moaning about the poly 100% sure that their horses had absolutely no problem before they raced. Love to know who lied to you about GC having their ears singing! The trainers were more worried that the training track here was a bit too hard yet Tony tells me that Anton said to him the other day that it is the best surface he has ever worked on. To late for them to worry about the Cape season now as with the positive horse sickness from a vaccination around here, horses cannot go yet.

Neigh, I wait with anticipation to see how many first time maidens are brought out when the grass racing resumes. If the poly is so good then there should be small fields of first time maidens, if not and if the fields are full then for me that will be the proof in the pudding.

Why would any course that only really races 1/3 of the year on its grass need to save it any further. What has changed over the years that today with all our technology we need to race on a surface for 4 months of the year?

We lost the best grass racing surface at Clairwood as well as the fairest track and now have Poly for everything.

Tigershark I proved in previous posts that Clairwood was not the best surface using Vets reports. I am not going into that and look it all up again. The grass at Greyville will be monitored and used so that when we get to Champions season it is in good condition. It was overused in the past and then was not in a perfect condition by any means when we got to that time of the year. Most trainers like to bring there horses out 1st time out down the straight and we only have grass for that so that statistic will probably not be accurate. Many nice horses have come out on the poly.

Craig most of the older horses (your eg) have been pulling up ok but not so with a large number of youngsters. Why do you see the same horses competing week after week ? Are they the only horses in GC country ? Where are the better horses competing, on the poly ? No ! Where are the Natal three year old, better horses competing or prepping ? On the poly ? No
How many horses have been entered by the top 4 stables in Natal on the poly in the last 2 months ? Tells me a completely different story to yours bud.
This has probably been a conscious choice made by these trainers to save their better youngsters for the turf or to take them to the other centres where the tracks are better. (obviously for the season as well)
Craig, what I was refering to about ears singing, was that not everyone is happy in GC country about the state of affairs and it would be ludicrous to say so, because nobody new was nominated. You know who and about what I am refering to.
I know its to late now but how many horses were "curtailed" in their prep because of there only being the poly available for all this time ? IMHO absolutely unacceptable.
For Natal horses to be competitive nationally this has to change immediately.