The news that Friday’s Fairview meeting has been switched to the polytrack has led to a local trainer questioning the motivation and justification behind the decision.
The argument is backed up by the official www.sahorseracing.co.za website stating that only 2mm of rain has fallen in the past 7 days.
General Information as at 27 August 15:15 per the official site:
| Weather @08h00 | Partly Cloudy, South Westerly 14kph Crosswind | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall | Last 24 Hours: 2mm | Last 7 Days: 2mm | |
| Irrigation | Last 24 Hours: | Last 7 Days: | |
| Penetrometer Reading | |||
| Track Condition | Standard | ||
| False Rail | 3m out at 421m mark | ||
“Can we demand a refund on nomination and acceptance fees and can the poor owner please also feel that he at least gets back when he does not get what he paid for?,” asks the trainer in an email to the Sporting Post.
The trainer queries why Phumelela are providing no penetrometer averages or any ‘real reasons’ for moving the scheduled meetings and whether an investigation can be done, as historically it is difficult to imagine six meetings having been abandoned.
“They have already moved at least 6 meetings that I know of to the polytrack, all on the word of trainers and jockeys that have good draws on the day.Is racing not permitted in soft or heavy conditions anymore? This is more so, given the fact that the grass has barely been raced on this whole year, because of all the polytrack meetings. And now there will be another 2 months of polytrack.”
The trainer’s frustrations appear to be exacerbated by the reality that horses are specifically entered and accepted to race on the grass, but then racing gets ‘switched at the last minute’.
“I totally understand if it has rained say 150mm the day before – such as in Cape Town. Although they still race there because of the great job that Dean Diedericks does on the track. But if you have had sunshine for a week, and sunshine is predicted for the day, how can the Fairview turf track still not be right?”
We have requested a response from Phumelela.
