Poll - VAAL SAND CLOSURE

Tim, not bad if you want your horses to run third every time..... :silly:
Nice bright colours bud.

neigh wrote: Tim, not bad if you want your horses to run third every time..... :silly:
Nice bright colours bud.

lol you mean the winners box lol thx bud

rob faux wrote: The only practical purpose for racing on any surface, other than turf ,is an "all weather" factor ...........which Vaal (or Flamingo) sand has never provided ,so good riddance IMO! :evil:

Rob this statement is incorrect. The Vaal sand was indeed an all weather track when it started in 2001. I remember occasions when huge rain fell and they raced on the surface 20 minutes after this with no ill effects. There was a year when the Emerald Cup was affected by a terrible storm including hail. They raced afterwards. Whether Mr Davis likes it or not, the Vaal Sand has its place. Many horses only perform on this surface. A poor workman blames his tools and this closure is 100% due to poor maintenance, the problems really started after the affirmative course manager was appointed.

This poll is splitting opinions a bit

Disaster management !!!

Newmarket , Gosforth Park and Bloem sold or closed down.

Vaal turf split into two and Vaal sand created as ALL WEATHER.

Turffies inner track created as substitute for Gosforth, even using the turf as transplant.

Now it' s time to go back full circle with the Vaal Sand converted to a turf track and the Turffies inner track to be changed to an ALL WEATHER with the Gosforth Park turf to be redug out.


What a complete shambles , shows poor planning and decision making on the part of the board.

Interesting point on the Sporting post ............a reminder submitted by Brett Maselle!

Extract from the Racing Assoc. AGM minutes -19/11/2001

Messrs Brugman,Ninow,R Blank and G Blank,with the approval of others present,placed on record that they believed Phumulela management was incompetent in that a decision had been taken to build a sandtrack at the Vaal and a second grass track at Turfontein rather than use the available funds for marketing.The comments were noted!

......................says it all really ..................from the days when the RA were not puppets of the operator!

From an owners position i say NO.

June, July, August the grass tracks are like concrete to race on...... so if you do't want to stuff up your horse on the brown " grass " tracks in winter rather keep your horse behind stable door for 4 months ! It will only set u back 25 - 30 Grand, to eat & shit every day.

the sand DID offer a good alternative when it was in good nick. I do agree that jockeys safety as well as the horse is paramount.

When stake money comes nowhere close to yearly keep of horses ( never mind the purchase price ) - is surely one way to loose the small time owner.

Racing biggest problem is that the decisions made in the moment are wrong.This goes back to the club days already,and is the only reason Phumelela came into existence in the first place.

The whole industry has been been taken over by a few who are getting richer at it's expense.

The bird has already flown in terms of the sand issue,it's a mute point.

Huchergh wrote: Racing biggest problem is that the decisions made in the moment are wrong.This goes back to the club days already,and is the only reason Phumelela came into existence in the first place.
.....
T

At Huch. I'm sure the reason why Phumelela came into existence was that racing was told (by Govt) that had to transform. For me, please bring back the clubs.

I know this is only 50 votes so far but this is pretty clear ?

Would it have been the same if the poll had been run a year or so back when there was plenty more consistency on the course etc? I very much doubt it Bob. Little point running such a poll when the course has been allowed to become completely sh1t, foregone conclusion and simply playing into the hands of those who allowed it to become sh1t. Should perhaps have run the poll a year ago asking if Phum were doing all they could to ensure the track's ongoing condition and ensuring a fair surface for all, including punters. Might have struggled to get one yes to that! :whistle:

Disappointed to see the Vaal Sand close…that is said partly from the pocket yet mainly from the enjoyment of processing and analysing form and related stats.

The opening of the track in 2001 coincided with my decision to become proficient in horseracing analysis and betting. In the late 90’s I purchased many books and initially developed my own speed ratings. As a lot of these books were of American origin I felt well equipped to tackle sand racing (I had already applied speed ratings to local turf racing with moderate success).

Analysis of the speed ratings themselves highlighted the benefit of ‘good draws’ and also accounted for lesser performances from poor draws. Initially this was with 1000m races and then the 1200m and 1400/1450m races.
From initial observations, and then various statistical applications, it became evident that the Vaal Sand 1400/1450m races possessed the biggest draw bias of all RSA tracks/distances. Linked with speed ratings and other stats I felt I had a ‘real edge’ and this materialised in playing quartets primarily in the 1400/1450m races.

The performances of Little Hampton were unforgettable. Often drawn high, taking on good turf performers having their first runs at VS meant he was always ‘value’…a punters dream. There were a few others with similar credentials.

Unfortunate the sand track could not be rectified to produce a safe and acceptable surface for all concerned (especially the horses) it has been unique and from this punters perspective – thrilling and profitable.