muckville racecourse pmb

they will never get this goat track right after a bit of rain at muckville it looks like farmer georges 300 cows have run through it..god help us when clairwood goes and we down to 2...

I said the same thing yesterday, they are totally mad to sell Clairwood.

Is it the same story in KZN where Clairwood is easier to sell than Scottsville, I am sure that was the logic with Newmarket and the big T but as far as I gather Newmarket is still waste land, what a sad,sad story.

Scottsville is a lease too. By selling Clairwood, Gold Circle would own not one race-course. KZN racing is the in the hands of the land-lords...

We have an informal members meeting at Greyville tonight and it will be interesting to hear what everyone has to say. The board has put in a HUGE amount of work and am told they are very confident that things will really look up here in Kwazulunatal in the future. The price they are getting for the sale of Clairwood is huge and they can afford to make big changes including Polytrack at Greyville. The members vote on everything next week so tonight will be very informative.

Putting a polytrack in, on a track Gold Circle doesn't even own. Even with racing spread out over 3 tracks at the moment, they cannot handle the volume and get very cut up. Scottsville is very far out for most people, and let's net even begin to discuss the quality of that track.
I understand the selling price of Clairwood ought to be astronomical; with the new harbour coming, this land-value will also continue to increase exponentially.
I personally don't feel the sale of Clairwood is for the good of racing in KZN. The figures may be right, but we can never replace what we have in Clairwood

Craig why will they convert Greyville to a poytrack? Won't it make more sense then to convert one of the Scotsville tracks to a Polytrack and install lights?

I feel sorry for the owners in KZN - when Clairwood goes, they will be in much the same boat as us here in Gauteng when we lost Newmarket - too many horses - too few places/races to run them; let's just hope that the money from the sale of Clairwood would indeed go back into upgrading either Greyville or Scotsville - and I think dynasty raises a very valid argument in terms of Scotsville being the better venue for a polytrack.

sugahorse writes ' we can never replace what we have at Clairwood' ; maybe if the money is indeed 'right', does it no make sense to investigate the development of a completely new facility - perhaps north of Ballito?

Got back earlier from the meeting and it was well attended for an informal meeting. Everyone very positive and looking forward to going it alone. Will find out how many years still to go with the Pmb and Greyville leases. I was told that the money offered for Clairwood is over 3x the present market value and we cannot do what needs to be done without the huge cash injection and this will be kept in house and only used to upgrade facilities. The polytrack would be on the inside of the present track. Only a small portion of the grass would be used and the balance comes from the golf course. We could have 4 grass races and 5 polytrack races or any split if we wanted at any given meeting. I personally think it is a great idea. We have to upgrade and we could race anyday on the polytrack. Wet meetings could move from Pmb and not be lost. But this takes big money.

And away they go......................................

craig good luck with your board as the issue that i tried to discuss with you shows me how short sighted they are in this regard and clearly dont give a damn about the most important cog in the wheel the punter...the game in natal will go one way and that is downhill and all those great plans they have will end up in the dirt bin..

I hope you are wrong and still trying to find the best way to get the 1st timer issue into the media. We voted them in now we must support them. Tony especially got a mention for all the work he had put in. As a member said last night something must be right about our racing as Mike De K, Charles L, Karen Anthony have relocated here and Mike Azzie apparently looking for boxes just to name a few. Maybe I am on the wrong track but our board is working and has worked very hard and maybe now that we are nearly there they will be able to concentrate on a few other issues to improve the game especially here.