A jockey has joined a leading Cape trainer in imploring racing operator Gold Circle to take responsibility and be accountable for track issues in KZN rather than ‘denial or pretending that there isn’t a problem’.
Vaughan Marshall and his partner Jenny Jones lead Always In Charge (Anton Marcus) in after a top class Gr1 win at Scottsville on Saturday
Milnerton-based trainer Vaughan Marshall, who has a powerful raiding string and celebrated a superb Gr1 2yo feature double at Scottsville on the Tsogo Sun Sprint raceday said that he had been ‘shattered’ by what he had seen when walking the Scottsville track after galloping one of his runners recently.
“You can quote me. Ask my colleagues if you need any confirmation of what I am saying. I earn a living out of horseracing succeeding and am all for the game enjoying positive publicity – so I am definitely not being malicious or pointing fingers. Why on earth would I be? There is a problem with the tracks and I have to admit that I am anxious about sending my horses out on surfaces like this. Were it not for the level of stakes on offer, I wouldn’t be here and have already been forced by owners to leave some at home. Some horses are naturally tougher than others but we are picking our races carefully,” he said.
Marshall said that Greyville was ‘even worse’ than Scottsville and that he felt deeply concerned about the prospects of racing going ahead on the turf on the Rising Sun Gold Challenge day on Saturday.
He said that he thought that there was general consensus that the turf tracks were in poor condition and could not understand anybody suggesting that they weren’t.
“There is some rain forecast for Friday evening and if it arrives in any numbers, then I have my doubts about all scheduled races going ahead on the turf. That is not good at all. But it is my personal honest opinion given the present state of the turf,” he said ruefully.
When asked what he felt the technical solution was to the issue, he said he was no expert on the subject.
“Ralph Smout is one of the best track managers in the business – we all know how good he is. I fear that there is no quick-fix solution. The soil appears to lack the necessary nutrients and needs to be replaced. That has probably already been proven by the problem lingering. What about digging the turf up down to say a metre and replacing the soil and planting new grass? That will obviously cost money but it seems a better option than trying to defend an ongoing problem,” said the experienced trainer.
The KZN jockeys failed to appear for post-race interviews at Scottsville on Wednesday and the following response was forthcoming to the Sporting Post’s enquiry for clarity to Gold Circle.
A jockey, who asked not to be named, dismissed the suggestion by Gold Circle that the no show by three senior jockeys at Tuesday’s meeting, was an indication that they were ‘not all that serious or urgent’.
“Let’s just be fair. Yes, we all forgot. That we will concede upfront was an error on our collective part. I was contacted and apologised and indicated I was fifteen minutes away from Greyville and on my way. A few minutes later, while en route, I was told that the meeting had been cancelled. That was the end of it,” he said.
The jockey said that addressing concerns expressed by effectively preventing feedback on the track conditions to punters was a disservice to the betting public and other stakeholders- and that it was a means of skirting the underlying problem.
“The mere fact that we are debating this via the media just goes to show the level of frustration that exists. A problem can only be solved when it is acknowledged and the blame and finger pointing stops. When a race-meeting is cancelled or abandoned, the official word is always ‘jockey protest’. That is often misleading – especially when these abandoned meets are followed by weeks and weeks of non use and maintenance – an indicator that it shouldn’t have needed a jockey alone in the first place to stand up and say ‘stop -something needs to be done’!”
He went on to say that it was also misleading to create the impression that this was world- class horseracing on a par with Australia or Singapore, when the tracks were in the condition that they were in.
“Walking on a track and visually observing it also does not always tell the story that a jockey feels through a horse galloping on the surface. We feel the falter. That said, even the casual observer could see the state of the track on Daily News day. Naturally that is not to say it won’t be better on Saturday,” he said.
