180 mils since Friday

Im the only one who had anything to say about the track manager. Only me bud, so I dont know where you coming from unless its from some other forums/owners/trainers/public etc ? Not on ABC
On every given opportunity over the past 2 years racing has been kept off the turf so that it can "heal" and not be over used. Now the blame has been past on to the other guys from around the country.........their fault ? wtf ? They only tried to help. GC employs a person in his professional capacity as a groundsman, right ? Why then even ask other opinions ?
Me, as an owner, Im worried about the state of the track and it being safe and seeing out the season. My horses have to run on this surface. Jockies have to ride on this surface. Their well-being and safety is a huge concern for me if the surface doesnt hold up. Especially after Friday night and all the kick-back I saw after "no Rain and no irrigation". Especially after last years July gallops (if you can remember and the uproar that caused). Especially after every excuse has been given under the sun not to use the surface except in the season. A stray dog pisses in the parking lot and racing moves to the poly. Nothing seems to have improved in fact I would have a quess and say its worse but then Im not a groundsman and I do not work the course.
Now if Im disgusting and a whinger like you say then cry me a f.... bucket !!
Klaar gepraat !!

Craig no matter what excuses are made, more than enough time has been allocated to sort the turf out and in my opinion things clearly are not perfect. Now I have been in this game for more than 5 minutes and let me tell you remember very clearly one or two VERY wet KZN seasons and one July that had to be postponed on the day for terrible weather with practical floods on the day. Right Prerogative year. One thing that you did not have at that stage was Poly and lo and behold, after abandoning on the Saturday, and racing on the Monday, the rest of the season went on unabated. The time for whines and excuses is over, there is a problem with the track and by implication the people that are responsible for it. Klaar gepraat ook

PeterD wrote: I wasn't there on Friday 6th, but have spoken to trainers who were there.
Comparative times for races on 20/4 and 6/5 :
1200m
6/5. 70.44; 73.88 ; 76.63
20/4. 71.22; 70.81; 70.56. ; 69.50

1600m
6/5. 97.52; 98.63; 98.97
20/4 96.70; 98.60; 99.28

According to the GC reply, there was 20mm of rain on 20th.
Average times were faster on 20th than 6th, bearing in mind also that the 1600m races on the 6th were higher class contests.

These results Isupport the view that the going on 6th was somewhat softer than on 20th.

I.
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I agree with peter here all the 1200times quoted on the 20th are poly times therefore
cannot be compared to the turf times on the 6th (the 70..44 on the 6th is a poly time) .
The 1200m turf times where pretty slow on average .

The mile times on the 20th are all on turf . Brooklyn b the fastest that day96.7. compare that to black Arthur time almost 10lenths slower .
The time Peter quotes of 97.52 was a poly race therefore cannot be compared.


It's very obvious to note ,the Overall times on the turf track where pretty slow.

They have no choice but to use the turf sparingly because it will deteriorate further with frequent use !

neigh wrote: Dilligaf, as you have read a lot on this forum you would realise both Peter D and myself are journalists that thrive on sensationalism and having a go at GC on a regular basis.
Enough mud slinging we will leave that to the track and the horses. I truely hope the track stands up for the season as the Natal Winter Season is for me by far the spectacle of SA racing and a true reflection of our horseflesh and their ability.

Neigh for which publication/s do you and PeterD write?

I might like to read your articles.

Sent from my GT-I9295 using Tapatalk

Sorry my sim went on my dongle. Put a different one in and now working Neigh, the disgusting person is not you. It is the person who had a really horrible go at the one track manager after an incident at Greyville. Completely unnecessary. I prefer the poly as you have a new surface every few races to run on. No matter what you fill a divot with it is not the same as the grass around it. Without doubt my horses pull up better off the poly. The poly is not going to go away and some highly placed people in GC actually were advocating that the whole of Greyville be made poly. I will never vote for this. The grass is by no means perfect but it is better than 2 years ago. GC brought in all the top course managers from around the country and I think that they ended up with about 4 different ideas of how to fix it. To me the only way is to completely strip the course of all the different grass's on and start from scratch. The cost is huge but know it is being thought about. GC cannot be doing too much wrong as I gather that if they built 200 boxes tomorrow they could fill them by Thursday with the waiting list of trainers wanting to come here.

I am neither a fan of the poly nor of a narrow track. Of the two evils give me one wide track and if its poly so be it.

Mac, I have said to them and the majority agree. You do not mess around with the July. I would be surprized if anything ever became of it.

Dilligaf, I write for the Horse and Hound we are based in Nottinghill :silly:

Their are stats out there that Poly/synthetic surfaces are if not the safest then on a par with Turf

All comes down to how well it's looked after

Bob Brogan wrote: Their are stats out there that Poly/synthetic surfaces are if not the safest then on a par with Turf

All comes down to how well it's looked after

www.horsefund.org/horse-racing-ground-matters-part4.php

Both in fatal and non fatal injuries the all weather is the best surface to run on. I gather that the managers are given certain parameters in which the poly must be prepared otherwise the guarantee falls away. They were both checked last week and fine. They do not just thumb suck a setting.

Bob, do you have pictures of Royal Durban today? I am sure they have cancelled all golf bookings this week because of the rain last weekend.

What are the international measurements for Poly being assessed that it is properly maintained? Based on climate, water content, speed etc.?

Move the poly to Summerveld and race there as nobody goes to the poly meetings anyway.

Once and for all sort out the turf track at Greyville and just stop making excuse after excuse. Unlike some people i would rather not race than race on the poly as an owner.