The Vaal

It seems obvious that The Vaal is having to pick up the slack of racing affected by rain. Now this venue has been my favourite for sometime - it's a gritty place that oozes grass roots racing. My suggestion to Phumelelela is to hire/buy a large tent and when we have to move venues suddenly due to rain (weekend only) make hay while the sun shines. Hire a bus to transport owners/punters from turffontein (park and ride). Cater for the owners punters in an informal family type environment(an upmarket 'Braai'). Dress down for the day and use the facility as you would Randjes Fun day. Make the call earlier if racing is to be moved (Friday morning if you can) - You can still have a room open at Turrfs for those not wanting to make the trek. The main thing is to actually have a system in place that kicks in should you wish to move venues quickly. Many people are adverse to the drive to the Vaal but the bus would quickly sort that out. Have a standby loosing ticket draw kitty in place to entice patrons to make the drive. You win the Vaal wins and something that started out as an aggrivation could turn out to be a pleasure - Ps Get Emerald On board(free betting voucher/and dinner to the owners that are oncourse should their horse win) - after racing they can try to lure the owners punters in for an evening of casino play - all you need is to make the call earlier and stick to it and if the rescue plan is already in place you can turn a bad day into something positive.

Morning Mr H

what happened to the Phumelela fun bus for Kimberley, night racing from Pretoria to Joburg and now the Vaal?

? No Idea? The Idea of buying a buss makes sense as it can be used for mulitiple purposes rather than trying to hire one at the last minute

Mr H, while I don't share your enthusiasm for the Vaal, I think your suggestion has merit; anything has to be better that what we have at the moment. I hate that drive to the Vaal (especially coming back) - one has to ask oneself the question 'Do I really love horseracing that much that I have to travel to another province to see my horse run?'

Very good idea, thinking out the box, that's our Mr H

Frodo the reason I love the Vaal so much is that I grew up in Suburbia - The 45mins on the highway takes you to another world - driving into the place there are monkeys, and meerkat in the grasslands. The trainers are also such good sports once you get to know them. On the way there is Henly On Klip which has one or two fairly decent places to take the kids(a Butterfly and Reptile zoo) Emerald Casino has a Zoo and Game Drive and there is an indoor pool(Drop the Kids/Wife and Granny there while you and Grandpa do the punting at the course) There is a Golf course nearby and if you have had a midlife crisis and indulged in a Harley there is a resident Biker bar on the Vaal Racecourse where the members are very friendly and the drinks bill won't kill you. The drive back is tedious but worth it as the pretentious nature of racing at Turffs falls away in the Free State. The point is that if you have to change venues make the best of it - I always say you can have a party in a box just as long as you have wine, women and song so get a box(tent) ready for rainy days and you'll be ok. Once you meet the local hooligans in Kelvin's Bar you might just be begging for the next rain affected meeting.

As an afterthought Emerald could offer racing people a night's stay(at special rates) if they are not fully booked which would relieve the pressure of driving home that night and allows you the owner to let your hair down a little(park at Emerald shuttle to Vaal - party hard - shuttle back to Emerald and play the tables if you so desire) - the minute a weekend meeting is moved call up the pro department and get figures on occupancy and flight the bookings number on teletrack (and use the IRKSOME sms system to inform RA members that Emerald has ten rooms available etc - not difficult but shows you care)

Mr H, to each his own; I still think your main point - if you have to change venues make the best of it - has merit and needs to be considered by the powers that be; unfortunately imo if judged on past performance not much will come of it.

Guys,the one thing I can tell you is that it would be a mistake for them to BUY a bus.I can assure you that transport ( particularly of the large variety) is best left to those with experience in that field.
They battle to manage a website never mind a transport division!

I remember year gone by where Vaal was never used for week end racing

we raced Vaal newmarket mid week and turfies gosforth week ends.

some times newmarket but never the Vaal.

I personally think the facilities are total crap at the Vaal.

The maintenance of the entire course is even more crap.

The only section worth visiting is the stables and the near by breakfast corner.