Polytrack for gauteng

Bumped for reference

.................................. www.africanbettingclan.com/forum/phorum-...29,315729#msg-315729

With the introduction of separate MR's for turf and sand, the switching of turf to sand became impractical anyway; in theory (if the sand was raceable when the turf is not), the turf meetings could still be moved to sand (even with separate MR's) - it would just mean that most races would be decimated by scratchings (some horses would not be eligible for a particular race on the sand with their turf ratings) - so in a way they should be thankful that this is not viable - imagine having a 8 horse field for a meeting on the turf and then the meeting gets switched to sand, but 4 of the runners are scratched for various reasons :

In terms of a Polytrack, how long has it now been since a strip of Poly was laid at Randjiesfontein for 'trial' purposes? But as far as I'm aware there has been no feedback on whether the Poly experiment has been 'successful' or not - which leads me to believe that there were some problems with it, otherwise we would have had a Polytrack at Turffontein by now? As far as I know , the Gauteng 'Poly initiative' was in the pipeline long before the Fairview Polytrack was 'installed' - not sure what the reasoning was for putting it in at Fairview first :S

Frodo Wrote:

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> With the introduction of separate MR's for turf
> and sand, the switching of turf to sand became
> impractical anyway; in theory (if the sand was
> raceable when the turf is not), the turf meetings
> could still be moved to sand (even with separate
> MR's) - it would just mean that most races would
> be decimated by scratchings (some horses would not
> be eligible for a particular race on the sand with
> their turf ratings) - so in a way they should be
> thankful that this is not viable - imagine having
> a 8 horse field for a meeting on the turf and then
> the meeting gets switched to sand, but 4 of the
> runners are scratched for various reasons :
>
> In terms of a Polytrack, how long has it now been
> since a strip of Poly was laid at Randjiesfontein
> for 'trial' purposes? But as far as I'm aware
> there has been no feedback on whether the Poly
> experiment has been 'successful' or not - which
> leads me to believe that there were some problems
> with it, otherwise we would have had a Polytrack
> at Turffontein by now? As far as I know , the
> Gauteng 'Poly initiative' was in the pipeline long
> before the Fairview Polytrack was 'installed' -
> not sure what the reasoning was for putting it in
> at Fairview first :S

What you say in your 1st paragraph is absolutely right..................just amazed that the operators had clearly not done enough homework and therefore had no anticipation of that reality!
A case of being right for the wrong reasons !!

if the rumours about closing Kimb are true(2015-16 ) then there would be spare cash to spend on a poly

or they could just sell Durbanville ()

Close and sell the Vaal!!

What will happen when/if we get separate MR for Poly.

Close Tellytrack, close and sell Kimberly, close and sell Vaal! So strip all the assets. This does not sound like a sustainable stratagy to me.

Reminds me of Eddie, the guy that lost all his organs and body parts and was reduced to a head. He lived happily for a little while until he went BLIND!

I think maybe a bit clarification

Question on site " where would we get money for polytrack" ?

My tongue in cheek ans

Sell the Vaal

Hope nobody in power reads the site, I might be taken serious

I thought De Beers or Anglo American owned the Vaal and Phumelela just had a lifetime lease on the property?

The Vaal has its place in racing and I personally enjoy the sand and so do some horses and it's a bonus for winter. That long sand straight is testing and will suit horses that don't suit a quick Polytrack with a short straight so I'd push for both. Kimberly should go though!

Where the money should come from? Wherever Newmarket and Gosforth's money was invested!

Schedule summer meetings primarily on the Polytrack with some turf meetings for rain and schedule winter meetings primarily on sand with some turf meetings.... That's my humble opinion!

Poly at Turff inside is simply a matter of if and not when. Vaal Sand is being revamped. I laugh at some people who dont remember that after similar and even more rain previously, the Vaal Sand ran excellently. It was an all weather track and is being restored to that again. If it were up to me, I would cut the bend around the dam in the middle, shortening the straight and also reduce the width of the surface, thereby reducing maintenance times and costs.

The fact that many sand horses exist and so too certain sires etc must be considered. You cant just retire all of these horses.

As for the meetings lost due to this weather, it is all well and good to look at these losses just from a turnover point of view or punter's point. We must also consider the horses themselves and the Owners who pay their keep. Irrespective of what surfaces are available, the horses must still work. Training tracks are completely waterlogged. This brings in the treadmill issue. Those who have them, have a distinct advantage for the bad month or two, when tracks are waterlogged. But, how many Trainers can afford these? Ultimately, as things stand right now, the costs of these would be paid by the Owners.... So, when the Operators look at all weather surfaces, they must also look at Training Tracks and/or treadmills....

Because the truth is that no horse will stand up to working only on racing surfaces its whole life, including polytracks. Not unless breakdowns and vet bills are accepted as a norm.

This may well be academic ( Multi Choice Termination Letter thread.)

louisg Wrote:

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> Poly at Turff inside is simply a matter of if and
> not when.

So you are saying it has not yet been decided IF a Poly will be put in at Turffies? I was under the impression that it was not IF but WHEN ?