Turf Racing Jhb

Ja thought so ..so for the largest economic area in Africa that being Gauteng which covers a very small area of land Not only do we only have one racecourse we have a massive 3 maiden races for colts and geldings over 1200m over the next 5 weeks...those weeks which precede one of the biggest races monetary wise in the country..ie the R1.5m Summerhill race.

'97 '08

Horses in training 9250 5715
Trainers 211 184
Race meetings 484 441
Races run 4119 3806
Total runners 50352 41790
Ave runners per race 12 11

Source: NHA

It seem that the problem lies not with the racemeetings...
but rather that we have so many 3y old maindens...

is it because these 3 y olds did not run as 2 y olds..


keep in mind almost double the horses in 97..

ave runners per race very close 12/11

and 97 total runners 50353/ horses in training 9250 = 5.4 times that a hoses ran
and 08 total runners 41790/ horses in training 5715 = 7.3 times that a horse ran

why do we have so many 3 y old maidens...
keep them in training..but dont let them run..for financial reasons..

No its because we do not have enough races to fill the capacity of 3 year old maidens...Its very simple guys we need an extra race meeting during the week. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see this, mind blowing how the authorities can't grasp this??

Seems so simple doesn't it Greg? But after the winter (before the rains) I think the turf tracks can not stand up to more races - so we are stuck. Still the situation can be improved at least by taking more care when contructing the program imo.

Oscar be thankful you have colt/gelding(s) looking for a race, what about the fillies; exactly ONE race for maiden fillies over 1000/1200 in Gauteng in the WHOLE OF SEPTEMBER (yes it was split into 2 after noms - didn't help us as we were still eliminated after 3 unplaced runs - in one of those unplaced runs our filly was injured and finished 25 lenghts back and another run was on sand). I notice that Mr Davis (conveniently?) does not mention fillies' races in his reply - suppose we need to be thankful for the reply at least.

I think the rule of eliminating runners needs to be looked at again; how can a previous run on sand be taken into account when putting a field together for a race on turf - or vice versa? I know the aim is probably to get rid of the 'weaker' horses, but to become eligibel for elimination by default after 3 unplaced runs, seems unfair to me. Does a horse with a MR of 80 automatically get pushed down to a 70 after 3 unplaced runs - definitely not; so why be so harsh on maidens? Some discretion needs to be applied imo. The relative merit of the unplaced runs should surely also be taken into account.

Thankfully September is now almost gone (and another month of stabling fees spent), and our filly will hopefully get a run in one of the many races available in October. So there is light at the end of the tunnel - we live in hope.