Two Friday night meetings added at Turffontein..

PHUMELELA MEDIA RELEASE

RELEASED BY: Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Limited

Two Friday night meetings have been added to the Highveld racing programme in order to compensate owners and trainers for the race meetings lost through inclement weather in recent weeks.

There was 205mm of rain at Turffontein in December, making it the wettest December since 1986 when 207mm of rain was recorded. The average rainfall at Turffontein in December is 120mm.

Amazingly, no race meetings were lost in December but racing was not so fortunate in January with four race meetings having to be cancelled. There was 287mm of rain at the Vaal in January and 261mm at Turffontein, whereas the average rainfall on the Highveld in January since 1969 is 154mm.

“We had the wettest December and January for a long time and the water table is incredibly high with the result that not much rain is needed to render racing impossible,” said Phumelela’s horseracing executive Patrick Davis.

The two additional Friday night meetings have been scheduled for 12 February and 12 March respectively and each will comprise eight races. In addition several extra races have been created recently by splitting or adding races to meetings already programmed.

It should be noted that in terms of the national fixtures policy agreed with Gold Circle race meetings can only be postponed into open slots – in other words to afternoons or nights on which no racing is scheduled.

Prize money not paid in a season as a result of abandoned race meetings or races is not lost to owners and is carried forward into the stakes pot for the next calendar year.

I'm not going to say that it is the case, but perhaps our ranting and raving has not fallen on deaf ears??

I still remain that our forums do have some clout and that the right people do read what we say....We should just never give up and only criticize where the critisizm is due.

Leave the petty stuff out of what we are trying to do!!!

I can't shout for a 4th J&B for Pocket so I may as well give this honour to the Clan.

Go ABC Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Give credit when credit is due.... well done guys for putting pressure on these okes!!!

They still need to change that ruling with Gold Circle about races postponed to open days only.... it does not benefit racing imo.

Tommy i thought the same thing,when they announced they were doing the 20sec thing with the tote,was that not one of your ideas?

Hibs,

It was but more still is needed. They need to cut that to 10 seconds. Still the weight of money is a concern. These international guys are making bets and the conglomeration of their bets get transferred in.

Imagine if their best comprise $10,000. If that gets transferred one wack into our pools then you get a HUGe swing. Their $10,000 translates into about R45,000.....into a pool the size of about R55,000.....s$%t is gonna go down, if you get my meaning.

They have a long way to go to try and sort this comingling crap out.....I don't think they thought the entire process through, they only saw dollar signs!!!