Berri 2,131 Report post Posted August 25, 2018 How ever the final complete story ends out, racing's administration must fire those responsible for the Te Rapa debacle. As I understand it, this is the situation. As Elerslie was under reconstruction, some of the iconic races were to be run at Te Rapa. In an attempt to improve the Te Rapa track surface, advice was given to apply sand to the track. This begs the question as to who was involved in that consultation process because this is actually where the responsibility chain starts. My understanding is that there was an attempt to improve the track surface not that long ago so why was this latest action necessary? The decision was to sand slit. This is where slits are cut into the track and sand would be placed into the slits. The theory of this technique is that the sand in the slits drains the water through the slits much quicker as theoretically the water drains through the soil profile and into the nova flow drainage under the track. What of course they don't understand is if you don't do analysis of the soil type and grass types with the rooting profile, the slitting may in fact destroy the stability of the surface and the kick back can be like a Sahara sand storm. But when you've got mediocre management, from the top down, the best thing you could do to prove your mediocraty is have no one at the track to see the sand arrive, which means no-one was there to check the quality and type of sand (dimensions), and the sand was dumped at a spot that wasn't specified. The sand was spread. It was of poor quality. It's specifications weren't checked, it was spread incorrectly. The outcome.....all the drains got blocked, a sink hole appeared in the track and a lake that is the next "Noosa" of the Waikato formed that has got the ducks changing their winter plans. I have been told that the track may not be used for the next 6 months.What the cost to the industry/ jobs/ contracts/ sponsorship's? Put this together with the debacle of 6 months ago during summer, when on a major race day, the food and beverage ran out (which was substandard in the first place) and that the track has been progressively degraded during the reign of both the current chairman and CEO (who hides in his office during race days) and you've got the targets for the "You're Fired Stakes". If any member of the NZTR were involved in this debacle, then they should also be in the noms for the same race. Grow some balls leaders. This is simply not acceptable in terms of incompetence and mis management. Heads must Roll Breeder, army, Baz (NZ) and 6 others 7 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryb 2,062 Report post Posted August 25, 2018 Everything you state is bang on, except the food section, its superior to most venues at Te Rapa. Jeff Dunstan is a quality chef who provides top class food at Te Rapa and other venues he supplies too. He is a victim of the f--k up that is Te Rapa. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Rum 1,833 Report post Posted August 25, 2018 What's the off time for this race, before or after the people running this track potentially get 10 mill of OUR taxpayer dollar to build and run an AWT there ? Problem with taking the taxpayer coin is opens door for taxpayer to have a word about it from kid working hard after school in part time job , family working hard to pay taxes while putting kids through school, person who's worked 50 plus years paying in and denied pharmac meds. And X amount of tons sand dumped willy nilly with minimal supervision raises so many questions it's open season time. Patiti and Pam Robson 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedley 1,900 Report post Posted August 25, 2018 Ken Rutherford should've been paying attention to an all important track upgrade rather than being into Cricket up to his ears and other media jobs too Huey and Insider 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
puha 2,177 Report post Posted August 26, 2018 3 hours ago, hedley said: Ken Rutherford should've been paying attention to an all important track upgrade rather than being into Cricket up to his ears and other media jobs too Agree with you Hedley . He’s the opening batsman for Te Rapa and doesn’t look like he’s on form. Might be time he was dropped. Insider and hedley 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...