vaal sand track to close

as per s.post to be closed this October

Why wait as if its so bad that they are closing it just transfer the scheduled meetings on it to the other track.

Not a surprise to me at all, in fact I'm amazed it had taken this long.
I'm amazed at the article blaming everyone but phumelela though. ...

Not surprised just amazed.

MOVE IT BACK TO BLOEMFONTEIN HAHAHA :lol:

chicken n chips wrote: Why wait as if its so bad that they are closing it just transfer the scheduled meetings on it to the other track.

Feature season just about to start

Snippets from Sporting Post

The new grass has already been ordered and is scheduled to be laid in January

“...to replace the sand with turf and once the new turf track is proven as a racing surface, the way will then be open to replace the existing inside turf surface at Turffontein with a synthetic surface like Polytrack".

The new Vaal turf track may be ready before next May.

Yes its quite strange how the horsemen get blamed for the state that the unwashed sand is in right now, but no mention is made of the fact that same sand was fine for a few years and definitely no mention of the possibility that it was not properly maintained for the last 2 or so years....

And yes, you guessed it - the man driving the decision is the same man who is leaving SA at end September. ....
Now the only question that remains is who will get the blame for the 8 and 9 horse fields which will severely cut turnover next Winter. ....will it be Jan van Riebeek or will it be the "horsemen"...?
And who will make the announcement about the resultant decrease in stakes ?

sunday marks the first anniversary of the last ever race meeting held at clairwood and now another closure

Hard to understand what all the problems are etc considering they have (almost) always raced on a "standard" track :silly: Farking useless.

Sell newmarket and gosforth park, buld inside track at the big t, build a sand track at the vaal, replace sand track with grass, replace inside with poly....great job...

gregbucks wrote: Sell newmarket and gosforth park, buld inside track at the big t, build a sand track at the vaal, replace sand track with grass, replace inside with poly....great job... [/quote

Haa Haa. ]

PHUMELELA MEDIA RELEASE
SUBJECT: Vaal sand to be replaced by turf
DATE: 29 July 2015
RELEASED BY: PHUMELELA GAMING

Phumelela is to replace the problematic sand track at the Vaal with a turf
surface in what is strategically the first step towards the installation of
a synthetic racing surface in Johannesburg.
Turf is the best racing surface in summer, but on the Highveld during
winter grass tracks become hard and divot repairs cause inconsistencies.
The need for an alternative racing surface to turf on the Highveld during
winter was the reason for the introduction of the Vaal sand track in 2001.
Unfortunately, the sand track has been dogged by a range of opinions and
criticisms, and replacing the top layer of washed river sand with unwashed
river sand a few years back at the request of horsemen has exacerbated,
rather than resolved, the problems.
It’s also dubious whether the Vaal sand track is environmentally or
commercially sustainable into the future. The track requires copious
volumes of water that are currently freely available from the Vaal River,
but that may not be the case in years to come.
Taking all factors into account, plus that replacing the entire top layer
of sand on the track again would not necessarily solve the problems,
Phumelela management first consulted with a cross section of trainers and
then recommended to the Phumelela board that the sand be replaced with
turf.
The board ratified the recommendation last week and the sand track will be
closed after the last of six meetings scheduled there in October.
The sand will then be lifted and stockpiled for use elsewhere. Once the
sand is lifted from the 60,000 square metre track, work will begin on
creating a suitable medium for grass to grow in. The new grass has already
been ordered and is scheduled to be laid in January.
The configuration of the track will remain unchanged and all going well the
first race meeting on the track will be held in May next year.
It’s a similar timeframe to replacing the grass on the Turffontein
standside track last year, a project that was successfully completed within
three months.
“An enormous amount of energy, money and time has gone into the Vaal sand
track down the years, but the complaints are endless and it’s unlikely that
all stakeholders will ever be satisfied. Plus the sustainability of the
track is questionable,” said Phumelela Horseracing Executive Patrick Davis.
“The best long-term solution is to replace the sand with turf and once the
new turf track is proven as a racing surface, the way will then be open to
replace the existing inside turf surface at Turffontein with a synthetic
surface like Polytrack. Such a surface will solve winter going issues on
the Highveld and lessen the pressure on the turf tracks and the number of
race meetings lost to rain,” Davis added.
Replacing the sand with turf will result in race meetings that would have
been run on sand during the transition period having to be switched to the
two existing Vaal turf tracks and the Turffontein standside and inside
tracks.
The bulk of these meetings will be held on the Turffontein inside track,
which will consequently not be fully reconditioned during spring this year
in order to be ready for racing earlier than normal.
“It’s a real challenge but my team has spent days planning how best to deal
with it and we are confident that the extra meetings can be accommodated on
the turf tracks without compromising the going. And we have a bit of
flexibility that the new Vaal turf track may be ready before next May if
the weather is favourable,” Davis said.