Phumelela has completed an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abandonment of Thursday’s race meeting on the Vaal Sand after just two races.
Jockeys claimed after the second race that the going was inconsistent and unsafe.
An inspection of the surface was immediately carried out by a track inspection panel, which confirmed the jockeys’ concerns and called off the meeting in the interests of the safety of horses and riders.
Senior track officials from Phumelela immediately went to the Vaal to ascertain what had gone wrong, given that there had been no problems at a race meeting on the sand surface a fortnight earlier and that weather factors had not impacted the track subsequently.
After a comprehensive inspection, General Manager Racing Operations Stan Diesel concluded that the Vaal track manager had slightly overwatered the surface, which in turn caused the inconsistencies. But he was quick to point out the difficulties the track manager faces in getting the moisture balance of the surface correct.
According to Diesel, the surface has become extremely problematic since the washed sand originally laid was replaced by unwashed sand five years ago at the insistence of horsemen, who claimed that washed sand was causing horses to slip.
Phumelela reluctantly acceded to the demands of the horsemen at the time, but warned that inevitably the unwashed sand would cause inconsistencies and would also result in more races being lost to rain.
“I do not wish to make excuses for yesterday and the track manager will face internal disciplinary proceedings because there appears to have been an element of misjudgement. But it does need to be clearly understood that unwashed sand has made the surface extremely difficult to manage,” Diesel said.
Phumelela is doing everything possible to ensure that the sand course is in optimal condition for the winter sand racing season. New equipment has been purchased to enable the sand to be turned over more regularly and effectively. This will bring the deeper, cleaner sand to the surface ahead of the normal raceday compaction process.
Patrick Davis – hints at synthetic surface to replace Vaal
Diesel is confident of achieving a good and safe racing surface for the Vaal sand race meeting on Tuesday next week, but said that as a precaution horses will be galloped on the track beforehand to ensure everything is in order.
The gallop is scheduled for 9am on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, investigations into the feasibility of possibly installing a synthetic racing surface at Turffontein are at an advanced stage.
“The thinking is that a synthetic surface at Turffontein would replace the Vaal Sand course’s big role in winter racing on the Highveld,” said Phumelela Horseracing Executive Patrick Davis. “If Phumelela did install a synthetic track at Turffontein, a decision would then have to be taken whether the existing Vaal sand track should be for training only or be converted to a turf racing surface.”
