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Geraldton 9th April off

West Australian Racing
tonytony    2,407 posts



47m47 minutes ago

Tomorrow's Geraldton meeting has been postponed after the track received 48mm of rainfall in the last 48hrs

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  • RIORIO    14,892 posts
    are all our tracks only winter tracks these days????? yes they did get through Bunbury and yes 48mm in 48hrs is a bit of rain.......but not a massive amount.

    Or have i just forgotten that this happens every Summer???
  • tonytony    2,407 posts
    Geraldton is definitely a summer track and regardless of the actual rain reading it basically has reined for 2 solid days up here.

    When a similar amount of rain can cause a major day's racing in Sydney to be called off I don't think we can expect more from country tracks where it seldom rains in summer.
  • VoodooVoodoo    1,304 posts
    Spot on Tony.....cant complain.....at least they have given everyone ample warning...


    cheers
  • tolleshunttolleshunt    82 posts
    Geros track looks  magnificent at the moment but has never raced at any worse then a dead 5, powers to be never want to take the risk! I watched Sydney race on Monday on a heavy 9 without a problem , Gero never needs the rating of slow or heavy as not keen to see if they can actually race on it.
    Did hear main reason don't race on rainy days is can't get the barriers into position as too boggy on the outside of track which beggars the question why not fix the problem in case it may rain again.
  • RodentRodent    7,262 posts
    So I've been doing the form for Geraldton and there's been no rain for days. Race 1 is about to start and SKY says indefinite delay, jockeys not happy with the track. WTF?
     Surely a jockey's representative can give the track the thumbs up or down well in advance. What a joke.
  • RodentRodent    7,262 posts
    So the meeting is off. I should have gone to the movies with my wife and son. I'm pissed off with the hours of my life wasted but that is nothing compared to the participants. Amateur hour yet again.
  • RIORIO    14,892 posts

    You gotta be joking. Safety is everything.

    So as the club said it was okay, the stewards did their inspectional and it was okay, the jockeys then say it isn't.. If that is the case then every time there is rain the jockey's should be consulted before the stewards and club officials. Even if it means flying two senior jocks up there the night before..

    Sure the track looked suspicious to the club and Stewards and they are just making the Jockeys the scapegoats??? Or didn't the stewards do a full track inspection? Or did they arrive on track at the same time as the jockeys?? Instead of the night before on a track that was a bit dodgy already??

    The situation to cancel at ??? whatever time as there is no announcement on CRIS or TABTOUCH about when it was cancelled appears once again to be right on the death knell of when they were meant to commence!!!

    8-}
  • tolleshunttolleshunt    82 posts
    To say the people that turned up today are all bewildered would be an understatement, it has not rained here for 6 days and we can't race. They had 2 trials and apparently the first one was fine or they would've had a second , reason for cancellation over PA was horse slipped at the 250m mark due to the undulated cut of the grass WTF, one there running in a straight line and being a trial was the horse actually experienced?  
    Time next meeting arrives on the 24th of April Gero would have had 2 meetings in 8 weeks ,.
    These same jockeys that knocked this on the head cannot tell me the tracks at Dongara, Mingenew Pingelly are in a better condition then Geros today, yet those racing always go on.
    I understand safety is everything but please where does it stop, jockeys are in a dangerous job but they are the ones that signed up for that job and to stop a meeting due to the undulated cut of the grass which has not seen rain for 6 days and raced on once in 7 weeks. 
    To the 9 Perth trainers that came up for the day i feel for you also - time to send my horses to perth..

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  • RIORIO    14,892 posts

    these are the same jockey's that demand we put them on our horses in certain races, as they cant make a fair living....at the expense of apprentices!?!?!?!?! WTF is going on??? No wonder there is no announcement on CRIS, how could you explain this one??

    And the losers are ...the owners....100k in prize money not going back into someone's pocket..The trainers also but they generally get some sort of pittance compensation from RWWA, to at least cover their costs.. The Owners get sweet phark all..

    Where's our Owners Own Spokesman when we need him..Oops funded by RWWA, so cant say too much can they..

  • TheDivaTheDiva    13,248 posts
    Tuesday, 14 April 2015
    MEDIA RELEASE
    Thoroughbred – Geraldton Turf Club Meeting 14 April 2015
    Prior to the official trials being held at the Geraldton Turf Club before the commencement of today’s race meeting originally postponed from Thursday, 9 April 2015 due to inclement weather, a track inspection was conducted by Stewards on their arrival at approximately 11.15am. Stewards were scheduled to arrive in Geraldton at 8am, however the flight was delayed from Perth Airport by approximately 3 hours and on their arrival a track inspection was completed as is normal procedure and the track rating of Soft 5 as notified by the Geraldton Turf Club at 8am was confirmed.
    Stewards were satisfied with the track condition at this time and the scheduled trials were approved to proceed. Following the trials, riders expressed concerns with the track surface as two horses slipped and Stewards in accompaniment with Senior Riders and Club Officials re-inspected the track and it was subsequently deemed unsuitable for racing.
    It was ascertained that the reason for horses losing their footing was due to the grass being cut late yesterday afternoon in preparation for today’s meeting with the machinery causing the grass to be flattened in the damp conditions resulting in parallel vertical lines forming from the indentation to the track surface. This then ultimately resulted in surface inconsistency with horses not being able to grip fully. Such effect was not discernible at the time of the initial track inspection and the problem only became entirely apparent when the track surface was placed under full pressure by horses galloping over it during the trials.
    After consultation with the Geraldton Turf Club it was subsequently decided that this meeting be abandoned and races for the final meeting of the Geraldton season, scheduled for Friday, 24 April 2015 be divided to meet demand for racing opportunities.
    The track will be further assessed and remedial measures taken as required, including a number of track gallops under the supervision of Stewards leading into the final meeting at which time a decision will then be made regarding its suitability to proceed.
    Media Contact: Brad Lewis – Chief Steward Thoroughbred Ph: 9445 5420 [email protected]
  • RIORIO    14,892 posts
    edited April 2015
    where do you get that Diva??? i cant find it anywhere on the RWWA site, or CRIS specific areas???
  • tolleshunttolleshunt    82 posts
    so hopefully that means no emergencies in any race !
  • ThePunterThePunter    3 posts
    Long time reader first time poster. As an owner who had s runner travel up from Perth today I'm an needless to say not impressed. That rwwa media release above I have not seen. It's not on rwwa cris nor was it emailed to myself. Racing in WA is a farce and incidents like this are unfortunately too regular. Feel for the trainers that drove 4 hours to then turn back, and will rwwa cover our transport fees? Yeah right...

    RIO, JustanL, thefalcon, notapunta likes this post.

  • careycarey    6,387 posts
    i have looked everywhere and can find no trace of what diva posted.

    the only thing one can take from that is that they DON'T want anybody to see it.

    you could not make this stuff up where rwwa and arse covering is concerned.

    there is ALWAYS somebody else to blame.....ALWAYS

    thefalcon likes this post.

  • RIORIO    14,892 posts
    on a dodgy track you'd have at least 1 steward up there the night before as a service to the participants after already being postponed once in already..
    i am constantly staggered by their inability to learn from past mistakes and put in place work procedures that don't allow this crap to happen..

    JustanL, thefalcon likes this post.

  • thefalconthefalcon    20,290 posts
    if rwwa was a private enterprise a bloody great broom would would be thru them before you could say "meeting cancelled".
    remember the old saying, the sign on the boss's desk says "the buck stops here"?
    they are nothing but disorganised rabble and an enquiry into their incompetence should be conducted..but an unbiased enquiry into a govt. entity....dream on....

    JustanL likes this post.

  • murphyryan1murphyryan1    13 posts
    edited April 2015
    While a casual glance at the rainfall statistics for Geraldton might not appear to indicate that we had that much rain up here, it actually rained quite a lot in the days leading up to the races. I rode on the sand track on Sunday and the harrow lines were full of water.

    I think the media release sums it up pretty well, it was lucky no one was hurt in the trials, my horse fell before it even made it to the barriers for the start so it sure was slippery. In the second trial one of the jocks rides slipped in running but was fortunately able to regain its footing without falling or it would have been a nasty end of proceedings.

    While it is probably fair to say that the media release is accurate, it still was a right royal **** up and lucky in the end that no one was injured. Calling off the races was definitely the right decision, just a shame it had to happen the way it did.

    RIO, Dale, Fastmoney, thefalcon likes this post.

  • RIORIO    14,892 posts
    good post murph.

    Safety is always important...may have been a slight knee jerk reaction towards the jocks in frustration but the main beef is on how it was handled by RWWA.....they should have been there on top of the situation well before the airplane delay could've taken effect...then to do that media release(which i still cant find) that they and the club passed it for racing but the jocks said no....always stinks of the stipes putting the pressure on the jocks....which is a crap thing to do.

    it is the dumb repeating of similar situations that are annoying...imo
  • FastmoneyFastmoney    4,912 posts
    The club needs to share the blame.

    If what is reported is correct, they obviously can`t judge what is a safe track.

    RIO likes this post.

  • MuldoonMuldoon    423 posts
    seriously some of you blokes go off half cocked here be at a 8 a.m. inspection or the later inspection which was out of the control of the steward blame the airline it would not have been noticed until the trials how slippery it actually was.

    on another matter now trusting the information I got is correct The trials at Kalgoorlie saturday were not run prior to the meeting due to the track which got through the meeting but the club would not allow the trials to be run after because it would probably cause more damage to the track. Surely 1 trial is not going to make that much difference and I do know some horses traveled all the way from Esperance for the trial. Owners are copping a right royal shafting everywhere
  • FastmoneyFastmoney    4,912 posts
    Muldoon said:

    seriously some of you blokes go off half cocked here be at a 8 a.m. inspection or the later inspection which was out of the control of the steward blame the airline it would not have been noticed until the trials how slippery it actually was.

    After a meeting has been postponed because of track conditions, surely some horses should be put around the day before the meeting.

    RIO likes this post.

  • RIORIO    14,892 posts
    and that should have been done with stewards in attendance....ordinary performance by the stipes..Clubs portion of blame is minimal. as they will always want the meetings to go ahead
  • FastmoneyFastmoney    4,912 posts
    edited April 2015
    RIO said:

    Clubs portion of blame is minimal. as they will always want the meetings to go ahead

    Not sure about that, they may want it to go ahead but if they can`t produce a safe track, the club is accountable.
  • MuldoonMuldoon    423 posts
    Fastmoney said:

    Muldoon said:

    seriously some of you blokes go off half cocked here be at a 8 a.m. inspection or the later inspection which was out of the control of the steward blame the airline it would not have been noticed until the trials how slippery it actually was.

    After a meeting has been postponed because of track conditions, surely some horses should be put around the day before the meeting.
    absolutely I agree with that surely it was done
  • RIORIO    14,892 posts
    Fastmoney said:

    RIO said:

    Clubs portion of blame is minimal. as they will always want the meetings to go ahead

    Not sure about that, they may want it to go ahead but if they can`t produce a safe track, the club is accountable.
    totally accountable but in this situation they are more likely to look for it positively if asked by the stewards...that is why the stewards needed to be up there the day before imo.....

    anyway this is just a waste of energy, there doesn't appear to be any will to permanently change these sort of short comings...If they still havent got an effect way to communicate what is happening, there is no chance they will sort out how to prevent post start time abandoned meetings!!!!
    :-??
  • FastmoneyFastmoney    4,912 posts
    If the club can`t produce a track that is safe for racing (after minimal rain) they need to look at the staff that prepare the track.

    Too many looking to blame others for their own mistakes.

    SPUDLEY likes this post.

  • RIORIO    14,892 posts
    i hear what your saying, but none of the fair weather(summer) tracks can handle any type of rain. And whilst some of them may need to be re-built to be able to do that (irrigation and soil and grass type may need replacing) for the 2 or 3 days a season that its an issue.............Until those upgrades are done, the club and RWWA should be prepared to put the energy into assessing any wet track conditions well before 11am on race day.

    the Media Release - which i still cant find anywhere - nearly throws blame at the jocks and the airline for having a delay in making the decision....thats bullshit. they should have been up there the day before to make sure thievery was okay for the race day.
  • SPUDLEYSPUDLEY    1,584 posts
    Surely there is a steward based at Geraldton I know Kalgoorlie has one, that could have checked the track at trackwork or trialled a couple of horses during trackwork and then informed RWWA before anybody left Perth.
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