as an ex south African champion trainer once said to me on the poly they don't break down they just snap legs ..very interesting the last time nyangan won on the poly the jockey Anthony delpech said in the interview that she must only run on the grass as she pulled up lame after the pullup and I think he dismounted..you can only run horses that are very sound on this surface that's my 1 cents worth as a punter
My point is simple, the current attitude is that POLY racing is here to stay, like it or lump it, from the operator. Well i am an owner who would rather lump it and over time we will see what happens to KZN racing. There is only proper grass racing between May & August while we continue to sort out the grass the rest of the year, something the operator has not got right in the last 36 months. Incompetence rules in the land of the ignorant.
I no longer bet as much or as often as i used to when there were decent fields for grass racing and i have also reduced my ownership, we will see if i am the exception....
There still has not been a penetrometer reading from Scottsville published, the rain has stopped in Durban and yet the Poly is the decision.....
Maybe GC should ask Dean & Dennis to fill the fields for the baby races tomorrow, i sure they will oblige.
and another thing no trainer with half a brain is going to say anything wrong with the polytrack on tv as his owners will start thinking well then why race horses in natal ..come on I wasn't born yesterday only last month
Any vet that has worked in my yard( specially Johnny Cave) and most trainers know that there are not many more unsound horses than Fly( knee chips both knees off the grass) and he pulls up far better off the poly. Anyway just my 2 cents worth.
Another 20+ mls forecast before racing is supposed to start tomorrow. Grass would never have been an option. If the owners and trainers do not take advantage of being able to at least race on the poly and earn stakes for themselves then no one is going to feel sorry for them IMHO. We either raced on the poly or nothing. Cutting off your nose to spite your face comes to mind. At least GC has given us somewhere to race and that is what we here to do.
Bone, and most other parts of the body constantly remodel according to the external influences/strain/concussion/resistance etc placed upon them (see Wollf’s Law). The soft sand training tracks here (in KZN) do not provide sufficient concussion to strengthen the horse's bone (and other parts) to the level required to handle the firm poly. Here Summerveld has a big advantage with a poly training track yet this track appears to be much maligned by the majority of trainers. It is perceived to ‘cause injuries’ when the reverse actually applies. The poly, if used correctly and progressively as part of a training program, will strengthen the horse's bone and connecting tissues to the point where poly becomes the ultimate racing surface; uniform, safe, non slip, all weather.
Your babies work on sand and grass and the stats say the poly is safer. When I worked at Newmarket there was only one sand track on the heath (and that was to trot down to the poly track) and the rest all poly and even with all those horses very few broke down. Just in our yard we had between 80-110 horses and 5/6 days a week they worked on the poly and about 4 days a week it was twice in a day. Anyway each to their own. Why are trainers now opting to race on the poly when asked what surface to run a race on? Are the majority stupid enough to say lets race on the poly when supposedly more of their horses go wrong on it? I don't think so.
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