Louis Goosen – contingency plan formulated
While accepting the imminent closure of the Vaal sand track as a fait accompli, top local trainer Louis Goosen has issued a dire warning to Gauteng horseracing’s stakeholders that they could well be wading waist-high into the murky shark-infested waters of stakes cuts come the middle of 2016.
“The question we should be asking ourselves is what they are not telling us,” he suggested after Phumelela had made a relatively sudden decision in July to close the sand track next month and replace it with a turf surface.
The eloquent and straightshooting Goosen is a gritty no-bulldust professional, who makes it his business to understand all aspects of the sub-economy in which he operates.
Old Men
He spoke frankly to the Sporting Post on the eve of the final major feature meeting at the Vereeniging venue this Saturday.
Young at heart – Piere Strydom
“I need to just clarify at the outset that the jockeys’ moans about the Vaal sand need to be put into perspective. I am not knocking them and have every respect for what they do by putting their bodies on the line. But their investment in the game on a daily basis is very different to that of an owner or trainer. And when they complain about the kickback – and having to push for the whole race – then one has to consider that it is human nature striving for ideal conditions in which to race ride. And when guys get to Piere Strydom’s age, then no bloody wonder they are whining about pushing the whole way” he said with a broad smile.
Goosen said that he had already implemented his personal contingency plans for the post-sand era, which includes the building of a state-of-the-art Raider horse transporter to target Scottsville and Kimberley.
“There is nothing we can do about it. A decision has been made to scrap the sand surface and so be it. It is a great pity that there was so little apparent research and consultation, in my humble opinion. For those of us who train horses for a living, it just means getting on with the job and implementing business survival strategies. ‘Boer maak ‘n plan’, as it were,” he laughed soberly.
Poly Time
He added that there was a groundswell of unhappiness and that the names of those trainers who had apparently supported the closure of the track were also still not generally known. At the same time he rejected suggestions that he was behind a rumoured petition to get the closure stopped.
Success story – Des Gonsalves, Piere Strydom and Louis celebrate another winner
He said that there was no date committed for a polytrack, and forecast that the support for a turf track in the middle of winter would be such that Gauteng owners and trainers would be getting a similar letter as that issued last week by Kenilworth Racing, in a plea for support of fields or face punitive stakes cuts.
“You can say what you like, the Vaal sand served a very useful purpose in our unique weather conditions. Frost and lack of humidity makes for a rock hard turf surface in winter. There are plenty of horses who just won’t cope. So after October, for many, that means the possibility of a prolonged rest, maybe vet bills and even of looking elsewhere for racing options. So what will be the short and even medium-term impact on Gauteng racing then?” he asks.
Maintenance
Vaal – maintenance and little else
He said that in his opinion the problems with the Vaal sand were maintenance related and ‘nothing else’.
“Let’s face it – if we cannot get the maintenance right on something as elementary as the Vaal Sand, then we could be in big trouble with a polytrack, given our temperature fluctuations and a lack of humidity. The sand requires daily watering. You know, basic daily attention. Not simply being left to its own devices and then watered and tended 25 times a few days before the meeting,” he countered.
Goosen suggested that it would have been logical to have first researched reducing the size of the track and modifying the configuration with the addition of a ‘more exciting’ 650m run-in.
“That must surely have been an option? Or even consider the Kimberley situation. Have you seen the field sizes down there of late? What about looking at moving that racing to the Vaal – lower level type racing on a Monday? I am sure that would have been a platform to possibly attract a lot better sized fields than what Flamingo Park is currently attracting. And then there also wouldn’t be the current logistical nightmare and costs of commentators, officials and transporting of jockeys etc into the Northern Cape every Monday.”
Fantastic Surface
Goosen flagbearer Trip Tease wins again
Goosen said that he was not ‘anti polytrack’, which he labelled a ‘fantastic surface’. But he was adamant that it was ‘no replacement for the sand.’
“We need to do the right thing by our long suffering owners- the ones who keep racing going week in and week out. And the breeders too. By simply getting rid of sand racing, we end the careers of many horses, some of which could be in their prime at the time. Can this be considered a positive step? We should tread very carefully, as an industry. We should never drop our standards to such an extent that we are at a point from which we can never recover,” he warned.
