Ellerslie track issues

[Pam Robson 1,705]

3 hours ago, nomates said:

All the money in the world poured into stakes do not cover up the major cracks we have in this industry .

But it seems all you ever hear from the big names within the industry is how great things are and it's a great time to be involved .

Why is it no one , and I mean no one , within the hierarchy or one of the big players have the character to come out and start being honest , because until that starts nothing is ever going to be solved . You know giving critique doesn't have to be a negative .

It's fantastic the direction stakes are going but it breaks my heart that these real issues within our sport as Scooby says , just dealt with bullshit and waffle .

No one ever says right enough is enough , we are going to deal with these issues once and for all .

Or as I suspect , is everybody just too busy counting their dollars and don't want to rock the boat .

Please someone stand up and show some leadership , no not some , how about true leadership .

 

I have to hope that Entain realise - if they haven't already  - what a lame duck they are supporting.

Increased funding is great for we stakeholders, we are lucky to have the chance to run for real money...but this continued ineptitude has to be pulled into line.  

[Leggy 4,191]

Just now, Pam Robson said:

I have to hope that Entain realise - if they haven't already  - what a lame duck they are supporting.

Increased funding is great for we stakeholders, we are lucky to have the chance to run for real money...but this continued ineptitude has to be pulled into line.  

How?

[scooby3051 11,580]

Exactly the same issues keep happening over and over and nobody or nothing changes...just another useless report and another load of waffle to make them feel like they have done something...until tough decisions are made and bought out into the open nothing will change as its a boys club...just like the penalties for different participants in the industry depending on who you are...Entain can only do so much the people who are in charge are the problem.

[Idolmite 2,743]

1 hour ago, Blue said:

Winston won't be doing any track renovations that's for sure. Ellerslie, Avondale, Te Aroha all on the 'injured list' for one reason or another.

What odds the next Auckland Cup runs on the poly at Cambridge? Don't seem to have any slipping problems at least.

 

NEWSFLASH; Castlepoint Beach to host all Auckland Group and Listed races from April 11th until further notice.

[scooby3051 11,580]

2 hours ago, Leggy said:

Curious to know what Paul had to say when you had a chat Chris?

I think Paul might have been a tad busy today with his tracks" bedding in" issues...

[Pam Robson 1,705]

5 minutes ago, Leggy said:

How?

Er....you go first.

 

7 minutes ago, Leggy said:

How?

 

[scooby3051 11,580]

Investigation underway after Ellerslie abandonment
By Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
An investigation is set to commence tomorrow morning (Thursday) into the abandonment of
Ellerslie’s Wednesday meeting as a result of safety concerns following a slip on the venues newly
installed StrathAyr track.
A decision was made to abandon the mid-week meeting following senior jockey Opie Bosson’s
report of his horse, The Storyteller, slipping near the crossing following race three, which the
Stephen Marsh-trained gelding won.
“Following race two we had concerns raised by a few of the jockeys in regards to the surface around
the home turn,” Stipendiary Steward Lauren Selvakumaran said. “We convened a meeting with
those jockeys and on the films it wasn’t apparent that there was any concern. At that time, they
(jockeys) also agreed with that and were happy to keep riding.
“Post race three, concerns were raised again. We convened a meeting with jockeys, club officials,
Stewards and NZTR (New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing) representatives in which Mr Bosson
outlined he slipped near the crossing, so we went and had a look at the track and identified a slip
mark where Mr Bosson had stated it had happened. We also drove around to the 450m mark and
observed a few marks around that area.
“We weren’t satisfied with the surface being safe to continue.”
Selvakumaran said the idea of moving the rail was floated, but it was decided that wasn’t feasible
given the time it would take.
“The rail was out 10m today which was the first time the rail has been at that position, so that may
have played a part,” she said.
“It was suggested a possible rail move, but we just don’t have the time for that as it would take five-
plus hours, so we would run out of daylight.”
Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Wilcox was disappointed in the outcome and
said the Club is working hard with relevant parties to rectify the issue.
“Naturally we are disappointed in relation to having an abandonment. We pride ourselves on doing
things right, so we let ourselves down when this happens,” Wilcox said.
There were initial reports of horses slipping on Karaka Millions night in January, just the second
meeting on the new surface, however, there have been no reports of such issues in subsequent
meetings at the venue until Wednesday.
“From what we can ascertain, it is the same issue where the grass is matted and joins the sand
profile, which is causing the slipperiness. We thought we had that under control and we obviously
didn’t,” Wilcox said.
“All of those races subsequent to Karaka Millions night have been run without issue and all the
jockeys have been happy with the surface. Today with the rail out 10m, which is ground that hasn’t
been raced on, it has caused the same issue we experienced on Karaka Millions night.”

The track is set to undergo further renovation over winter, however, Wilcox said the club will meet
with NZTR and StrathAyr representatives on Thursday morning to discuss the issue and work out a
plan to try and rectify the issue ahead of their next meeting in 10 days’ time.
“After the last race meeting here (this season), which is the 25 th of May, it (StrathAyr track) will get a
heavy renovation and that will be focussing on removing that matting to ensure going forward that
that can’t cause any issues. This time next year, it will be settled and hopefully racing perfectly,”
Wilcox said.
“We have had a discussion with NZTR and we have got another meeting with them in the morning to
work out a plan of attack so that we can have the confidence of our jockeys, owners, trainers and
punters in our surface.”
NZTR chief operating officer Darin Balcombe feels for the participants affected by Wednesday’s
abandonment and said the three parties will be working hard on Thursday to identify a remedy.
“We had a quick catch-up late this afternoon on the abandonment. We are going to meet again
tomorrow morning and we have got StrathAyr coming over from Australia,” Balcombe said.
“We are going to have a look at what we can do going forward into next week and whether it is still
viable to run that meeting next Saturday.
“We have got to do better. We can’t have these issues coming up and we have got to make sure that
we get these fixes and make sure the tracks are improving.
“I am pretty gutted for the owners that would have gone to the course today and had to go home
again without a race. I really feel for them.
“We will work through the issues and come up with a plan going forward and we will get that out to
the industry at some stage tomorrow.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

[scooby3051 11,580]

The BS has started as I said another investigation undertaken...

[Insider 4,355]

Where has Bruce Sharrock gone too? 

He's the boss but never has anything to say.

Even the few "news releases" appear to be written by Darin Balcombe from what I can see.

Just wondering.

[Leggy 4,191]

3 minutes ago, Insider said:

Where has Bruce Sharrock gone too? 

He's the boss but never has anything to say.

Even the few "news releases" appear to be written by Darin Balcombe from what I can see.

Just wondering.

Good question. Maybe an elongated Easter break? Not a word from the NZTR Board chair either.

[Ohokaman 6,083]

V'landys issued the death knell for the Kensington track in its current form after receiving reports that the problems that have plagued the course still exist after it hosted five trials for the first time in more than 14 months on Tuesday.

"There is no doubt it is not suitable as a racing surface. We have given it every chance to perform and it doesn't," V'landys told Fairfax media.

Someone might like to think about these comments.

[nomates 4,133]

27 minutes ago, Insider said:

Where has Bruce Sharrock gone too? 

He's the boss but never has anything to say.

Even the few "news releases" appear to be written by Darin Balcombe from what I can see.

Just wondering.

Considering he was the person saying that he was determined to stop this happening , as ever the silence is deafening .

[nomates 4,133]

40 minutes ago, Pam Robson said:

Er....you go first.

 

 

Doesn't come up with solutions , just questions and data .

[nomates 4,133]

39 minutes ago, scooby3051 said:

Investigation underway after Ellerslie abandonment
By Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
An investigation is set to commence tomorrow morning (Thursday) into the abandonment of
Ellerslie’s Wednesday meeting as a result of safety concerns following a slip on the venues newly
installed StrathAyr track.
A decision was made to abandon the mid-week meeting following senior jockey Opie Bosson’s
report of his horse, The Storyteller, slipping near the crossing following race three, which the
Stephen Marsh-trained gelding won.
“Following race two we had concerns raised by a few of the jockeys in regards to the surface around
the home turn,” Stipendiary Steward Lauren Selvakumaran said. “We convened a meeting with
those jockeys and on the films it wasn’t apparent that there was any concern. At that time, they
(jockeys) also agreed with that and were happy to keep riding.
“Post race three, concerns were raised again. We convened a meeting with jockeys, club officials,
Stewards and NZTR (New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing) representatives in which Mr Bosson
outlined he slipped near the crossing, so we went and had a look at the track and identified a slip
mark where Mr Bosson had stated it had happened. We also drove around to the 450m mark and
observed a few marks around that area.
“We weren’t satisfied with the surface being safe to continue.”
Selvakumaran said the idea of moving the rail was floated, but it was decided that wasn’t feasible
given the time it would take.
“The rail was out 10m today which was the first time the rail has been at that position, so that may
have played a part,” she said.
“It was suggested a possible rail move, but we just don’t have the time for that as it would take five-
plus hours, so we would run out of daylight.”
Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Wilcox was disappointed in the outcome and
said the Club is working hard with relevant parties to rectify the issue.
“Naturally we are disappointed in relation to having an abandonment. We pride ourselves on doing
things right, so we let ourselves down when this happens,” Wilcox said.
There were initial reports of horses slipping on Karaka Millions night in January, just the second
meeting on the new surface, however, there have been no reports of such issues in subsequent
meetings at the venue until Wednesday.
“From what we can ascertain, it is the same issue where the grass is matted and joins the sand
profile, which is causing the slipperiness. We thought we had that under control and we obviously
didn’t,” Wilcox said.
“All of those races subsequent to Karaka Millions night have been run without issue and all the
jockeys have been happy with the surface. Today with the rail out 10m, which is ground that hasn’t
been raced on, it has caused the same issue we experienced on Karaka Millions night.”

The track is set to undergo further renovation over winter, however, Wilcox said the club will meet
with NZTR and StrathAyr representatives on Thursday morning to discuss the issue and work out a
plan to try and rectify the issue ahead of their next meeting in 10 days’ time.
“After the last race meeting here (this season), which is the 25 th of May, it (StrathAyr track) will get a
heavy renovation and that will be focussing on removing that matting to ensure going forward that
that can’t cause any issues. This time next year, it will be settled and hopefully racing perfectly,”
Wilcox said.
“We have had a discussion with NZTR and we have got another meeting with them in the morning to
work out a plan of attack so that we can have the confidence of our jockeys, owners, trainers and
punters in our surface.”
NZTR chief operating officer Darin Balcombe feels for the participants affected by Wednesday’s
abandonment and said the three parties will be working hard on Thursday to identify a remedy.
“We had a quick catch-up late this afternoon on the abandonment. We are going to meet again
tomorrow morning and we have got StrathAyr coming over from Australia,” Balcombe said.
“We are going to have a look at what we can do going forward into next week and whether it is still
viable to run that meeting next Saturday.
“We have got to do better. We can’t have these issues coming up and we have got to make sure that
we get these fixes and make sure the tracks are improving.
“I am pretty gutted for the owners that would have gone to the course today and had to go home
again without a race. I really feel for them.
“We will work through the issues and come up with a plan going forward and we will get that out to
the industry at some stage tomorrow.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

Reads like there is a lot of darts being thrown at the board .

[THE TORCH 730]

What an absolute shambles. I remember Wilcox appearing on Weigh In after the 2022 NZ Cup meeting got postponed. If my memory serves me right, he was very direct in saying Tim Mills should be held accountable and that heads should roll. Well Mr Wilcox what's your stand on this fiasco? Prepared to walk or happy to be sacked?

Is it true the installation of the turf was done in vastly different stages over a length of time?? If so then how could they possibly get a consistent surface for the entire track perimeter?

[CVance 6]

“After the last race meeting here (this season), which is the 25 th of May, it (StrathAyr track) will get a
heavy renovation and that will be focussing on removing that matting to ensure going forward that
that can’t cause any issues. This time next year, it will be settled and hopefully racing perfectly,”
Wilcox said.

A heavy renovation on a brand new track ?

Fills you full of confidence

[Chris Wood 1,606]

My filly didn’t attend so nor did I.

I will let the dust settle and make some inquiries tomorrow!

Sad outcome….

 

[Aaron The Anchor 262]

Have other similar tracks around the world had issues from the start? That is the question.  

If the answer is yes, than i guess we have to wait it out as they now have a superior track! If the answer is no, we have a problem.. 

[gubellini 4,275]

I can't wait for Credit Bet Mick's spin on the Ellerslie track situation in tomorrow's Herald.

[shaneMcAlister 1,457]

1 hour ago, Chris Wood said:

My filly didn’t attend so nor did I.

I will let the dust settle and make some inquiries tomorrow!

Sad outcome….

 

Fair play Chris.  You don't post as pseudonym and you don't hide from the questions.

I personally think next season this track will be the best track in the country for consistency.

 

[Chris Wood 1,606]

Thanks Shane, never hidden on this site and like to try and see the positive side.

Things aren’t 100% obviously, but don’t get carried away, see what the powers to be come up with.

They might be just as frustrated as what you people are….

The Strathayr team are on their way, they won’t walk away from their responsibilities, sure things will work out and as you say Shane, it will be the best surface in the Country.

Amazing how people hide behind a barrier, got something to say, put your name to it…..

[Aaron The Anchor 262]

2 minutes ago, Chris Wood said:

Thanks Shane, never hidden on this site and like to try and see the positive side.

Things aren’t 100% obviously, but don’t get carried away, see what the powers to be come up with.

They might be just as frustrated as what you people are….

The Strathayr team are on their way, they won’t walk away from their responsibilities, sure things will work out and as you say Shane, it will be the best surface in the Country.

Amazing how people hide behind a barrier, got something to say, put your name to it…..

Well said! 

I think in time alot of people will eat their words! I'm still confident this track is a huge step in the right direction and in time it will prove itself. 

So many would love to see it fail which is strange. 

[Palliser 960]

7 hours ago, scooby3051 said:

They just never learn and its the same thing  over and over again, we are just a laughing stock.

Cameron Rodger onto it, don't worry NOT

[Palliser 960]

5 hours ago, chiknsmack said:

When it rained it got muddy and took time to recover. Not good enough when we want 40 meetings per year at "Headquarters" from September to April.

This new track though can take a foot of rain in ten minutes and be a good 4 half an hour later. Water just runs clean through it. It definitely doesn't get muddy (or slippery).

Are you serious 40 meetings a year .. that is massively under threat

[Chris Wood 1,606]

Funny that Aaron, have to agree, negativity runs through a lot of Kiwis veins sadly, they want to see things fail, the old” I told you so scenario”.

Sad but true….anyway, let’s see how things pan out….

I for one think it was a good move to put the track in, yes the hill has gone, and coming from an ex jumps rider, it is sad, but change happens, like it or not!