Phumelela will station an additional official around the 1400m mark in future after the Turffontein inside running rail was found to be leaning inwards during the running of the second race on Thursday.
The Stipes reported that in the 2600m Turffontein second race it was noted that the inside running rail at approximately the 1700m was leaning inwards.
They also reported that during the canter past, Call Me Master (Gavin Lerena) shifted out sharply making contact with the running rail.
These two incidents were not linked.
“I have investigated the circumstances around the false rail in race 2 and it appears that a strong south westerly wind caused the rail to lean inwards. This happened after our track supervisor had checked that area. We have the entire track and running rails routinely checked before every race. Unfortunately this obviously happened after the supervisor had checked this area prior to the start of race 2,” Phumelela Racing Executive Patrick Davis explained to the Sporting Post.
Davis added that, given this incident, as an additional safety measure going forward they will now station somebody in the 1400m tower too, so that that they can assist in spotting any issues that may occur in the back straight and on the home bend.
He confirmed that the canter past issue was in no way linked to the faulty rail.