Re:Greyville Poly, 5 October

Charl wrote: I see your point mr h, delpech and all the other jocks got injured because it rained, NO they got injured in totally other circumstances, got nothing to do with rain on an allweather track.

Let's look at the facts and forget Rain(they did not protest about rain) From the stipes

Prior to the commencement of this race meeting, a track inspection was conducted. In this regard, it was established that certain areas on the inside of the course, in particular between the 800m and the 600m, required further maintenance. This was agreed to by the Track Manager, who undertook to complete same maintenance with the assistance of the Trainer Representative, Mr T Rivalland. This caused a delay to the start of this race meeting.
It was further agreed, in order to facilitate the continuation of the race meeting that, the Riders would race approximately 4 horses wide off the inside running rail which decision was ratified by the Stipendiary Board, in terms of its Powers granted in Rules 4.2.18 and 72.1.40

then
After the running of this Race, the Riders raised further concerns regarding the going of the track. In this regard, it was established by the Riders whilst riding in the Race, that the going which appeared to be visually better than that on the inside of the course, was practically as inconsistent as 4 horse widths of the inside running rail. Accordingly, a protest was lodged by the Riders on the grounds of the track being inconsistent. A panel consisting of Stipendiary Stewards, Riders, Trainers, the Course Veterinary Surgeon, and the Race Meeting Representative was convened in order to decide what action to take in respect of this protest. After discussions with the relevant parties, it was established that only a minimal improvement could be made to the track with further maintenance. However, after consulting with the Riders, this improvement would not have been significant enough to render the track sufficiently consistent to race. Accordingly, in the best interest of safety to the Riders and horse welfare, the decision was taken to abandon this race meeting.

So nothing to do with rain but everything to do with a dangerous surface that had problems BEFORE the start _ also at no point do the track staff say the Jocks are seeing things - They admit there is a problem and that they cannot fix that problem within the time constraint - It is obvious that the riders picked up a problem before the meeting and then tried to ride - In running they realized the problem was worse and the track team acknowledged they could not repair the damage.

mrh, the rain messed up the track, so it got everything to do with the f rain. I just doubt if it messed up the track as much as they say since its an all weather track and not a turf track, that's my opinion (whether I'm right or wrong), and I have an opinion because I am man enough to not just accept everything they feed us unlike you.

This image was sent in by a trainer, they are adamant that the track was safe, the horses were hardly leaving prints on the track

durbs wrote: Not sure it is all the jockeys that are unwilling to ride in those conditions.
I would say it's the senior jocks protesting and the youngsters know better than to go against them.
They just have to shut up and go with the flow or else they know they gonna be given a hard time in future.
I'm sure there's some fearless jocks out there but it's not in their best intentions to go against the more experienced jockeys.

.....if the senior/experienced jocks continue to call the shots....nothing to stop a well monied man from inviting a few out of favour imports to come and lend a hand....:whistle: