Ellerslie track issues

[Shad 1,587]

1 hour ago, Contentious said:

What about Tretham and Hastings - any further questions asked about their abandonments?

 

They were all fine to can, no big money or crowd on course,.

[Insider 4,237]

2 hours ago, Contentious said:

What about Tretham and Hastings - any further questions asked about their abandonments?

 

Of course there will be, but for safety's sake the correct decision was made.

Maybe Work Safe NZ should look into the safty protocol of NZ racing, because I think that it was carried out to the "tee" at Hastings and Trentham but not Ellerslie.

What do others think?

Hastings 

Trentham 

Ellerslie 

[Pak Star 801]

3 hours ago, Ohokaman said:

“Surface tension”  the cause of the problem according to Wilcox, meaning the track does not accept water.

They did the coring of the track on the Monday, should have been done on Friday and there would have been no problems.

Strathayr coming back to oversee the required work in the next couple of weeks.

Ken Kelso wasn’t too impressed as Legarto was one that lost her footing, but no injuries to anyone was the positive.

I dont think Legarto was one of the 3 mentioned in the stipes report, so that would make at least 4 total now.  Plus no doubt a few others who have swept it under the rug..

[Pak Star 801]

3 hours ago, Ohokaman said:

“Surface tension”  the cause of the problem according to Wilcox, meaning the track does not accept water.

They did the coring of the track on the Monday, should have been done on Friday and there would have been no problems.

Strathayr coming back to oversee the required work in the next couple of weeks.

Ken Kelso wasn’t too impressed as Legarto was one that lost her footing, but no injuries to anyone was the ..

.

[Nerula 1,437]

Torchy I think Petel might be a woman. if so and you think you can get in the last word, thats delusional.

[Pete Lane 747]

6 hours ago, Nerula said:

Torchy I think Petel might be a woman. if so and you think you can get in the last word, thats delusional.

Hilarious but untrue.

[Hi Ho Silver 787]

There were a few Aussies who prewarned us of the Strathayr surface, first negative comments I'd heard, on here I think I read.

NZTR are losing any credibility they may have had with the deafening silence following Hastings and Trentham abandonments.

PeteL, you need to admit you are wrong.  Your comments are quite dim in light of the serious situation, which is a reoccurring nightmare for those in the industry.  The situation is embarrassing.

[Pete Lane 747]

I don't need to admit anything thanks. I'm quite entitled to my opinion as you are entitled to yours.

[Pete Lane 747]

Can someone answer me one question.

Do you think a jockey the calibre of James McDonald would allow himself to be bullied into riding on an unsafe track?

I'm not commenting anymore on this.

[chiknsmack 512]

28 minutes ago, PeteL said:

Do you think a jockey the calibre of James McDonald would allow himself to be bullied into riding on an unsafe track?

I think he'd weigh up the risk and reward of riding and make his decision from there. One horse slips on a Wednesday at Kenso? Let's go home. Four horses slip on Karaka Millions night? "I'm on one of the faves in the $1.5m last race and might not be available to ride if it's postponed, so the show must go on".

Should the jockeys be the ones making the decision? On the one hand they're the ones risking their lives, on the other hand they're not the only ones potentially negatively affected by their decision. The "rule" everywhere else seems to be if any horse slips for any reason the meeting is abandoned, but that wasn't the case at Ellerslie for whatever reason (jockeys blinded by dollar signs, administrators not wanting to lose face, stipes not having the balls to say "I don't want jail time after the Worksafe investigation into the preventable death that may happen if we keep going on this ice rink").

[Pak Star 801]

37 minutes ago, PeteL said:

Can someone answer me one question.

Do you think a jockey the calibre of James McDonald would allow himself to be bullied into riding on an unsafe track?

I'm not commenting anymore on this.

Its a fair question, but there is a better one to be asked and that is "What would JMac have done if it was a Thursday at Hastings, or a Saturday support meeting at Trentham.

Pretty sure it would be a rhetorical one anyway as we all know the answer.

[THE TORCH 712]

2 hours ago, chiknsmack said:

I think he'd weigh up the risk and reward of riding and make his decision from there. One horse slips on a Wednesday at Kenso? Let's go home. Four horses slip on Karaka Millions night? "I'm on one of the faves in the $1.5m last race and might not be available to ride if it's postponed, so the show must go on".

Should the jockeys be the ones making the decision? On the one hand they're the ones risking their lives, on the other hand they're not the only ones potentially negatively affected by their decision. The "rule" everywhere else seems to be if any horse slips for any reason the meeting is abandoned, but that wasn't the case at Ellerslie for whatever reason (jockeys blinded by dollar signs, administrators not wanting to lose face, stipes not having the balls to say "I don't want jail time after the Worksafe investigation into the preventable death that may happen if we keep going on this ice rink").

Great post and a bang on reply.

[gubellini 4,211]

Ohokaman Ken Kelso was misquoted when he was reported as saying Legarto "lost her footing". She didn't. Check the Stewards Report- it was Holymanz that "briefly lost its footing passing the 600 metres". Legarto was on his inside at that point. Check the video. It will confirm that Legarto did not slip.

[Ohokaman 6,009]

3 hours ago, gubellini said:

Ohokaman Ken Kelso was misquoted when he was reported as saying Legarto "lost her footing". She didn't. Check the Stewards Report- it was Holymanz that "briefly lost its footing passing the 600 metres". Legarto was on his inside at that point. Check the video. It will confirm that Legarto did not slip.

He still wasn’t happy Gub…..

 

Super Kiwi mare Legarto remains on track for the $3 million Australian Cup at Flemington this autumn despite her defeat as hot favourite at Ellerslie over the weekend.

Legarto ran second in the NZ$1m Aotearoa Classic (1600m) as the $1.30 favourite but co-trainer Ken Kelso said the conditions on the day had more to do with her defeat than a possible underwhelming performance.

"The track was very shifty and they (stewards) had discussions through the day as to whether they should keep racing," Kelso said.

"It was a biased track there on Saturday. She really had no hope from where she was and the way the track was racing. The track was a bit of a disappointment."

[gubellini 4,211]

Ohokaman on the first day back racing at Ellerslie on the 14th of January they had the rail out 7m. In hindsight it may have been better to have it in the true position so the inside ground could be consolidated. They put it in the true position on the big day on Saturday on ground that hadn't been galloped on. Might have been a factor why three horses slipped?

[Ohokaman 6,009]

On 1/30/2024 at 8:51 PM, gubellini said:

Ohokaman on the first day back racing at Ellerslie on the 14th of January they had the rail out 7m. In hindsight it may have been better to have it in the true position so the inside ground could be consolidated. They put it in the true position on the big day on Saturday on ground that hadn't been galloped on. Might have been a factor why three horses slipped?

Possibly. Water retention was the other problem.

[Leggy 4,185]

36 minutes ago, Ohokaman said:

Possibly. Water retention was the other problem.

Perhaps water absorption more than retention?

[Keneperu 406]

Definetly "3 waters to blame".

At least Lux flake has replaced that with "boil water"

[Hi Ho Silver 787]

Whatever the problem is/was the track obviously was not fit to be raced on and it must be fixed before subjecting horses and riders to danger again.

[Gruff 2,871]

4 minutes ago, Hi Ho Silver said:

Whatever the problem is/was the track obviously was not fit to be raced on and it must be fixed before subjecting horses and riders to danger again.

What happens after a decent drop? Any rain around race day will create migraines

[Ohokaman 6,009]

They got very close to losing this little claim…..

ALL WEATHER

There has never been a track related wet weather cancellation on a StrathAyr Track System. Never.
We custom-design each track’s drainage system to cope with local climatic conditions, which helps to prevent track closures due to weather.

 

[Ohokaman 6,009]

Video is interesting regarding materials used….

 

 

[Ohokaman 6,009]

2 hours ago, Leggy said:

Perhaps water absorption more than retention?

Yes Leggy..the surface tension they talk about ( presumably the mesh structure tightening ?) prevented water on the day being absorbed.

[Gruff 2,871]

The surface is only as good as the drainage below it, in NZ we have adopted the 'novacoil sock' which is responsible for millions in flood damage that councils mandate from MBIE. If you are retaining run two pipes one to appease the mugs the other for success

[Peter Harrop 226]

Maybe the problem with Legarto was less to do with the track and more to do with Desert Lightning being too good for her on the day.

Desert Lightning ran the fastest 1600 metre time in New Zealand for 10 years, and the eighth fastest in the last 30 years. Surely if the track was dodgy they wouldn't be running those sort of times.