The starting stalls stuck on the Fairview polytrack capped a mostly forgettable week for South African horseracing when the Nelson Mandela Bay Racing fixture ground to a dismal halt on Friday.
Under pressure! Staff do their best to clear the track as the field round the turn for home (Pic – Pauline Herman)
The ninth race, on what started out as an entertaining card – when Little won the opener for Lotz it started out as fun – was declared null and void after the tractor dug its heels in and couldn’t remove the starting stalls from the 1900m event.
Given the circumference of the Fairview polytrack, the 1900m contest starts in the home straight.
Roll Of The Dice was leading the pack when the jockeys’ attention was drawn to the hazard ahead, and the runners started pulling up at the 700m marker.
Mechanical faults can occur – one just wonders why it took so long to stop the race? All’s well that ends well, and at least there were no injuries or worse.
The Stipes report will tell us more.
On the afternoon, Alan Greeff saddled 5 winners, with Richard Fourie grabbing a treble. Chase Maujean rode a double.
The next Fairview racemeeting is on Friday 4 April, when the Glenlair Trophy heads the programme.
