WELCOME BACK TO THE 70'S
No. I am not inviting you to a party. Simply stating my observations of what happened at the York races today. Or more to the point; what didn't happen. In case you haven't heard, the York races were called off today after race one because the track was deemed to be unsafe for racing. Amazing!! Not to worry. It was a lovely day for a drive in the country and most of us had nothing better to do anyway.
Well as far as I (and I think I can safely say most people that made it to the York races today) am concerned, enough is enough and I have had a guts full. We continue to hear how the state is in a boom time and how racing has never gone as well yet here we have a situation where a race meeting could have and should have been called off yesterday afternoon, saving a lot of industry participants plenty of time, money and frustration.
There is no doubt that the track received overnight rain which probably made matters worse however the section of track which was deemed unsafe was due to wear and tear and not recovering from the previous meeting. Now I know and appreciate that York is trying to help the industry out by running meetings for Pinjarra however that topic remains another unaccounted disaster but that's another matter. As far as I am concerned, the time has come for these clubs to act and run their clubs in a manner which reflects the importance and responsibility that they have to the industry or else employ some one who is capable of doing so. If that much is to hard to achieve then the club should not exist.
If we are so flush with funds and everything is going so well, why then can't we afford to send up a Steward or equally qualified person to inspect these tracks the day prior to a race meeting to give the track the all clear. Or are three hours wages to a person designated to make a competent decision going to break the industry? If not the day before surely we can have someone there by early morning to do so. I accept it may not be the best system but it sure beats the one we have. It has to be better than getting everyone there only to send them home. It is hard enough to accept when a meeting has been called off because of weather or track conditions arising on the day. It is not acceptable nor should it be, to treat the industry participants with the total disregard and contempt with which they have been today by the York Jockey Club.
The reality is that the York track was closed years ago and only reopened because of political pressure. If RWWA is so dictated to by the same political pressure today, then we really have not moved on very far over the past 30 to 40 years have we? In my opinion the track should have been closed permanently back when I stopped riding and our industry leaders should bite the bullet as soon as possible and ensure that it does close permanently. As much as we need somewhere to race, we need somewhere safe and reliable to race. That has to be the first priority. Otherwise lets all get out our slide rules, and calculate how many pounds shillings and pence one stone of potato's will cost us at the local fruit and veg shop!!! It seems that our priorities haven't advanced much since back then.
HOOFNOTE: To make matters worse, I am informed by the stewards that a sprinkler was left on in the 1500m chute overnight flooding the whole area and forcing a change of distance to a couple of races had they been able to race. Nice one!
Well as far as I (and I think I can safely say most people that made it to the York races today) am concerned, enough is enough and I have had a guts full. We continue to hear how the state is in a boom time and how racing has never gone as well yet here we have a situation where a race meeting could have and should have been called off yesterday afternoon, saving a lot of industry participants plenty of time, money and frustration.
There is no doubt that the track received overnight rain which probably made matters worse however the section of track which was deemed unsafe was due to wear and tear and not recovering from the previous meeting. Now I know and appreciate that York is trying to help the industry out by running meetings for Pinjarra however that topic remains another unaccounted disaster but that's another matter. As far as I am concerned, the time has come for these clubs to act and run their clubs in a manner which reflects the importance and responsibility that they have to the industry or else employ some one who is capable of doing so. If that much is to hard to achieve then the club should not exist.
If we are so flush with funds and everything is going so well, why then can't we afford to send up a Steward or equally qualified person to inspect these tracks the day prior to a race meeting to give the track the all clear. Or are three hours wages to a person designated to make a competent decision going to break the industry? If not the day before surely we can have someone there by early morning to do so. I accept it may not be the best system but it sure beats the one we have. It has to be better than getting everyone there only to send them home. It is hard enough to accept when a meeting has been called off because of weather or track conditions arising on the day. It is not acceptable nor should it be, to treat the industry participants with the total disregard and contempt with which they have been today by the York Jockey Club.
The reality is that the York track was closed years ago and only reopened because of political pressure. If RWWA is so dictated to by the same political pressure today, then we really have not moved on very far over the past 30 to 40 years have we? In my opinion the track should have been closed permanently back when I stopped riding and our industry leaders should bite the bullet as soon as possible and ensure that it does close permanently. As much as we need somewhere to race, we need somewhere safe and reliable to race. That has to be the first priority. Otherwise lets all get out our slide rules, and calculate how many pounds shillings and pence one stone of potato's will cost us at the local fruit and veg shop!!! It seems that our priorities haven't advanced much since back then.
HOOFNOTE: To make matters worse, I am informed by the stewards that a sprinkler was left on in the 1500m chute overnight flooding the whole area and forcing a change of distance to a couple of races had they been able to race. Nice one!
posted by Lou Luciani at
2:27 pm
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