Ellerslie track issues

[chiknsmack 490]

13 hours ago, Aaron The Anchor said:

I didn't think they talked the track up.

This is what @Hi Ho Silver was talk about wrt "Filming 2 jockeys in a 4 or 5 horse trial talking the track up".

 

[Leggy 4,096]

1 hour ago, Chris Wood said:

I am sure no one is going to put there hand up and openly say that their horses have regularly been treated for joint problems, and the horse is scratchy again the day after racing…..ooops, let’s blame the track, there might just be a little more to it I think…..

That would be a different matter but reports are of sore horses with no prior issues.

[Pete Lane 640]

Sounds like Master Fay is fine:

Exciting sprinter Master Fay is set to test his talents across the Tasman, with the six-year-old gelding booked to fly to Melbourne next week to chase elite-level targets.

The former Hong Kong galloper repaid the faith of owner-trainer Chad Ormsby with his dominant display when winning the Gr.3 Concorde Handicap (1200m) at Ellerslie last month, and his post-race condition has given the Matamata horseman the confidence to press on toward bigger targets.

“He is a lot better now than he was before the race,” Ormsby said. “I think he has gone to another level.”

Orsmby resisted the temptation of backing up Master Fay in last Saturday’s Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa in favour of testing the waters in Australia and attempt to gain a place in one of the best feature sprints in the world.

The Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) remains the ultimate goal, however, Ormsby said with Master Fay’s relatively low rating of 80, he is in talks with Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper David Hegan to gauge the best options for his charge.

“He is going to fly to Melbourne on the 25^th (of February) and then we will assess what race we will have a go at,” Ormsby said.

“We would like to have a go at the Newmarket, but it’s just whether or not he gets in with his rating. Hopefully being a last start Group Three winner might sneak him in as I would like to have a crack at some of the bigger ones.

“We are waiting on the handicapper to see whether he sneaks into that Newmarket, but there are plenty of other sprint races before the end of March that he can have a go at. If we are not looking like we are making those Group Ones we can change tack and try at one of those other sprint races.”

Master Fay, who was originally purchased by Ormsby as a yearling before he was subsequently sold to Hong Kong as a juvenile, is undefeated in his three starts to date, having won his sole outing in Hong Kong before returning to Ormsby’s care, for whom he has won both starts this preparation.

Ormsby is looking forward to campaigning Master Fay in Melbourne, and the magnitude of the opportunity has not been lost on the Waikato horseman.

“I know there is plenty in-store for him going forward but we are trying to get him over there and give him a taste of it,” he said.

“I have been doing this game a long time and it is not often I come across a horse like this. We are pretty excited to go over and have a go.

“He is not going to lack any of the ability. It is still only early days for him, it is his first prep back from Hong Kong.

“It is pretty exciting to think that we might be able to have a go at a Group One in Australia in his first prep.”

[Leggy 4,096]

Also maybe the penetrometer readings that they decided to ignore were a better indicator than they said.

https://www.aucklandracing.co.nz/press-release-update-on-penetrometer-readings-of-ellerslies-strathayr-track/

[Pete Lane 640]

But the stipes said this. All rather confusing.

MASTER FAY (V Colgan) – Raced keenly through the middle stages.  Held up entering the final straight making contact with COVERMEINSUNSHINE when shifting outwards to obtain clear running near the 300 metres.  Required post-race veterinary treatment being 3/5 lame in the right hind leg with a veterinary clearance now required prior to racing again. 

[scooby3051 10,978]

4 hours ago, Chris Wood said:

I am sure no one is going to put there hand up and openly say that their horses have regularly been treated for joint problems, and the horse is scratchy again the day after racing…..ooops, let’s blame the track, there might just be a little more to it I think…..

Once again you are summizing its only one stable but its not its 4 I know of...lets just hope they fix the issues as where there is smoke there is fire and for everyones sake we need Ellerslie humming.

[Blue 1,099]

6 hours ago, Chris Wood said:

It seems one stable may have had some issues by the word on the street, but if your injecting youngsters joints at this age, you are asking for problems as I see it, the pressure on two and three year olds without letting them mature naturally is always going to give you quite a high casualty rate, so let’s not blame the track for that.

Promiscuous babies don't have a particularly hard job in amassing enough prizemoney to start in the KM. If you happen to be referring to TA well they had won seven in a row so human nature decrees they'd love to make it eight. Owners, trainers and jockeys would all realistically love to get a piece of $1million or more (wouldn't we all ?) and sometimes, not neccessarily intentionally, the dollar takes precedence and these very much developing youngsters are asked to give 110% when they're not quite ready for it.

[Blue 1,099]

3 hours ago, THE TORCH said:

Maybe Weigh In should do a live broadcast from Ellerslie today to get a report from the jockeys as the trials are taking place. That would boost their ratings and inform us pronto on what is going on. 

Good point but also the track today will be quite different from KM day as there's been no rain for a fortnight and pretty high temperatures. Interested to see the outcome.

[Contentious 616]

28 minutes ago, Blue said:

Good point but also the track today will be quite different from KM day as there's been no rain for a fortnight and pretty high temperatures. Interested to see the outcome.

What time are these trials today? I would've thought hours ago and if right the silence is deafening!

 

[Alf Riston 1,555]

1 hour ago, Blue said:

Promiscuous

Precocious perhaps Blue? 

[Blue 1,099]

Yes.

[Aaron The Anchor 236]

12 hours ago, Memphis3 said:

What was actually wrong with the old Ellerslie track?  It’s been a while so was it unraceable. Did it need a complete new surface ? 
The main issue on the 27th was the rain they got which made things slippery . Were they unlucky that a lot of worst case scenarios arrived on the same day? 

I think it's more the fact they wanted to combine 3 clubs, be able to run up to 40 meetings per year and get rid of the dreaded abandoned meetings (not that Ellerslie was known for that) but that many meetings would take it's toll on most tracks.

[Aaron The Anchor 236]

7 hours ago, chiknsmack said:

This is what @Hi Ho Silver was talk about wrt "Filming 2 jockeys in a 4 or 5 horse trial talking the track up".

 

I remember seeing this and was obviously for promotion purposes

There were other non promotional videos where the jockeys actually gave their honest opinions which I found interesting and refreshing (no fake for the camera answers)

[Aaron The Anchor 236]

5 hours ago, Contentious said:

What time are these trials today? I would've thought hours ago and if right the silence is deafening!

 

I did see a video posted earlier today but no official word on how it went

[Leggy 4,096]

6 hours ago, Aaron The Anchor said:

I think it's more the fact they wanted to combine 3 clubs, be able to run up to 40 meetings per year and get rid of the dreaded abandoned meetings (not that Ellerslie was known for that) but that many meetings would take it's toll on most tracks.

40 meetings a year seems like a big ask. From memory, Moonee Valley runs about 30, Moe round 15. Does anyone have details of the number of meetings or races on Strathayrs in similar climate zones? Is 40 p.a. realistic?

[Alf Riston 1,555]

4 hours ago, Leggy said:

40 meetings a year seems like a big ask. From memory, Moonee Valley runs about 30, Moe round 15. Does anyone have details of the number of meetings or races on Strathayrs in similar climate zones? Is 40 p.a. realistic?

 

This is the Hong Kong Jockey Club Calander for next month.

They hold over 80 meetings per year between two facilities with an All Weather track in the mix (see Legend at bottom)

Happy Valley itself holds 40 Grass meetings in a 10 month season, so it would seem possible that the surface is durable enough for that amount of traffic (but probably needs to mature before being exposed to the full workload?) 

 

[Pete Lane 640]

Rail out 6 metres for Saturday's meeting.

[Pete Lane 640]

PDF of jumpout results. There's a link to video in there.

Some of the times look very slow.

Ellerslie Jump Out Results - 12-02-24.pdf

[shaneMcAlister 1,425]

NZ's largest stable has 9 entries for Saturday at Ellerslie.  

[Alf Riston 1,555]

3 hours ago, PeteL said:

PDF of jumpout results. There's a link to video in there.

Some of the times look very slow.

Ellerslie Jump Out Results - 12-02-24.pdf 113.28 kB · 17 downloads

Thanks PeteL

Just had a quick look at the videos - obviously not very high resolution, but the track looks pretty decent.

Slower times maybe resulting from a decent amount of water being thrown at it since KM day and a 'take it easy approach' ??

I see they raced wide in a group at the end of the day - maybe a coordinated request to test out more of the track??  

[Pete Lane 640]

20mm applied to track in 24 hours to 9am today. I seem to recall that they admitted that they watered too late in the week last time so be interesting if any more irrigation occurs between now and Saturday.

[Pete Lane 640]

35 minutes ago, Alf Riston said:

Thanks PeteL

Just had a quick look at the videos - obviously not very high resolution, but the track looks pretty decent.

Slower times maybe resulting from a decent amount of water being thrown at it since KM day and a 'take it easy approach' ??

I see they raced wide in a group at the end of the day - maybe a coordinated request to test out more of the track??  

That sounds quite reasonable to me. Times probably irrelevant for jumpouts of this sort.

[scooby3051 10,978]

Interestingly Sha Tin always waters the track leading into a meeting so the surface is always the same to allow punter confidence...maybe something to look at here.

[Leggy 4,096]

54 minutes ago, PeteL said:

20mm applied to track in 24 hours to 9am today. I seem to recall that they admitted that they watered too late in the week last time so be interesting if any more irrigation occurs between now and Saturday.

They irrigated the Monday night then Thursday and Friday prior the millions. 15mms each time which doesn't seem like much for that track.

[Alf Riston 1,555]

3 hours ago, PeteL said:

20mm applied to track in 24 hours to 9am today. I seem to recall that they admitted that they watered too late in the week last time so be interesting if any more irrigation occurs between now and Saturday.

Maybe the background agenda for KM was to make it a showpiece with fast times, that came unstuck??

They are probably best to make it more forgiving initially and slowly turn the screws to improve race times later on.

Enough water to make it consistent, safe and fair is acheivable hopefully?