VAAL SAND - THE TRUTH !

IMHO. ..
1) this Sand CAN be fixed, can actually be top class.
2) the Randjes Poly is in poor shape right now. Inconsistent and very harsh on horses legs. Very few, if anyone over there, use it regularly. What I do not know is if it is a maintenance problem or a poly/climatic problem.
3) I think that if the Sand is gone after the Cup, we should all be told. This would effect Owners and Trainers and especially, the new sponsor... who would go and buy a sand type horse at National 2 ?

Nice read.. my personal feeling is a lot like LGs.. I hope they can fix the sand track properly as a sand track.. the only pity there is the huge draw bias.. Also I doubt the story re Patrick Davies not liking the sand racing.. Also one of the best days racing one can go to is Louis Goosens Picnic site on the big sand day and finally I think a good all weather track at Turfontein instead of inside track is great idea as long as they can try to avoid the draw bias

But why have the poly at Turffontein ? If they are thinking of doing away with the sand track why not replace it with poly at the Vaal ?

Tracks like the Vaal give the serious punter an edge over the mugs, so as a punter I'd be very sorry to see it disappear

Bob Brogan wrote: But why have the poly at Turffontein ? If they are thinking of doing away with the sand track why not replace it with poly at the Vaal ?

Tracks like the Vaal give the serious punter an edge over the mugs, so as a punter I'd be very sorry to see it disappear

Could be because they don't own the Vaal? Besides from a marketing point of view if you going to spend millions on poly at least have the track in town and not 100km away.

Wouldn't it be nice if P comes out with a statement saying 'Hey guys, these are our plans with the tracks going forward ......' - would stop all the guessing games :huh:

Or maybe it would kill local racing even quicker in P territory :dry:

They sort of have Frodo on page one...

Plans are advanced about a bigT poly

Bob Brogan wrote: They sort of have Frodo on page one...

Plans are advanced about a bigT poly

Sorry I don't follow - which page 1?

Frodo wrote:

Bob Brogan wrote: They sort of have Frodo on page one...

Plans are advanced about a bigT poly

Sorry I don't follow - which page 1?

Bottom paragraph

www.africanbettingclan.com/index.php/kun...?limitstart=0#555034

Well as you say - 'sort of' :dry:

Frodo wrote: Well as you say - 'sort of' :dry:

Ja bud , can't see them wanting to maintain two hard to maintain all weather tracks, can you ?

It seems like it is a question of 'when' and not 'if' the Vaal sand is a thing of the past - I find that a real pity, because as stated by LG, the sand could actually be 'very good' and some horses are just made for the sand.

But as always, money will be the factor, so it would be highly unlikely that both the sand and the 'synthetic surface' will be around a couple of years from now - and from P's point of view, I suppose one can understand their logic:

1. They have given the sand many tries (washed, unwashed, imported, local, etc.) but it could be that the final straw was cast last week - and despite whose fault it was this time, the result was that racing had to be abandoned and P (rightly or wrongly) came out of the debacle looking sheepish

2. The Vaal (apart from being not 'ideally located') does not belong to them.

So they are seemingly going to try something new - a synthetic surface at Turffontein. Now if Patrick Davis is correct, they do not seem to have settled on the type of 'synthetic' surface, and it must be a worrying aspect that the experiment with Poly at Randjies, has apparently failed (and the reasons - perceived or real - might be enlightening).

So I think P needs to put out a statement clarifying their current outlook:

1. Have they decided on the type of synthetic surface ?

2. If not, what are the options and do they currently favor one surface - and why?

3. Expected time-lines ?

And so forth .....

This was posted on a s0cial media site by Ian Sturgeon, another point of view and a very valid one..


"Is there so little value placed on a jockey and horses life that neither is worth the prize money from a poxy E div hcp? Owners need to understand that some jocks like myself have felt a horse faulter and what seems like a moment later wake up on a stretcher with a medic trying to revive you. Is the effort of getting ready for, and the drive to the race course not worth watching your horse and jock also be able to drive home. We don't get paid so much that we don't need the money, trust me a lot of jockeys are swerving, and we don't get paid enough to be crash dummies either. In most organizations safety of animals and employees is the number one priority and I think some thought needs to go into understanding that jockeys want to race more than most as it's the only place we get paid for our efforts. I understand that owners need to race to help pay the hefty bills that owning a race horse brings with it. We all want the thrill of winning but when a track is unsafe it surely cannot be expected that a jock must then double or probably more than quadruple his chances of sipping out of a straw for the rest of his life. The track managers need to be honest when they make mistakes. It takes balls but racing needs people with big gonades right now."