Opening Day

Makybedon · October 2015

Blinkers_On said:

Makybedon said:

Blinkers_On said:
Understandably the trainers and jocks refused if unsafe I would agree with them. But this shouldn't ever be happening the length of time they've had to work on the track knowing that the return was coming up . Someone needs to be held accountable. Absolute joke that this has happened. Thankfully I wasn't on track today as had other commitments and had nothing racing. But I feel for those in attendance. But grateful no horses or jockeys got hurt in this pantomime.

I agree 100 %

Fastmoney · October 2015

No problem here.

Just wanted you to explain what you meant by your posts.

Simple question.

If not, move on as I suggested.

Aquanita · October 2015

Almost as bad TABtouch tweeting Greg Hooper's tips for the last two races two hours after the abandonment.

thetruth · October 2015

Just got informed that the track manager is also a consultant on 2 other jobs, the new stadium being one of them. How can you get the track right when your minds on other things? Apparently he is barely seen at the track during the week and leaves things to people who obviously don't have a clue.

Makybedon · October 2015

thetruth said:
Just got informed that the track manager is also a consultant on 2 other jobs, the new stadium being one of them. How can you get the track right when your minds on other things? Apparently he is barely seen at the track during the week and leaves things to people who obviously don't have a clue.

Well the trainers are calling for his head,so he might have one less job soon!

BobbyDavis · October 2015

@thetruth yes I was thinking something similar this afternoon, I have heard of plenty of trips east for the head curator. That's fine if it is to gain knowledge to help him create a great racing surface but if it is for another project and his role at Ascot/Belmont suffers as a result then I'm sorry but there is a huge problem when a debacle like today goes down.

I really hope the moderators don't go deleting posts that are critical of the track staff this time. Past criticism that was posted on this site that was removed has now been well and truly vindicated I believe. I know the head curator and believe he is an excellent curator in general but simply can't believe that this has occurred. There is no hiding from this.

lame · October 2015

may have only received funding/approval to do the drainage when it was ???

paraletic · October 2015

clearly shows he is out of his depth. No wonder the trainers are calling for his head. I would be too. I dont blame the other track staff, they are generally very hard working lads who work for a shite wage, the problem must fall with the top dog. He gets paid the big bucks to make the (wrong) calls.

ColonelKurtz · October 2015

Buck stops with the WATC President & committee. Bet they never missed a beat in the committee room. Blow torch should be on them.

thefalcon · October 2015

here i am at the marriott in bali, went to the galaxy to see the cup and aimed to stay on to see the northerly...we all know what happened.
what a fiasco...sad really. if i remember correctly they were going to move the opening date for ascot a bit earlier so the wreaking ball could hit belmont..instead it hit ascot on the 17th oct.
its like a mixture of monty python/fawlty towers and dads army..SURELY "they"must have known the problems.....heads should surely roll....if its true the curator pursues other interests than he is outski.
its time for a bloody big broom, maybe time for external management..get rid of the committee and get managers in..eg KPMG. as it stands its bloody hopeless.
well, my bintang is getting warm....better get another one.
we ptters are a very canny and forward thinking group of people, pity the same cannot be said of the current mob of absolute idiots.

loose_goose · October 2015

Bobby Davis said:
@thetruth yes I was thinking something similar this afternoon, I have heard of plenty of trips east for the head curator. That's fine if it is to gain knowledge to help him create a great racing surface but if it is for another project and his role at Ascot/Belmont suffers as a result then I'm sorry but there is a huge problem when a debacle like today goes down.

I really hope the moderators don't go deleting posts that are critical of the track staff this time. Past criticism that was posted on this site that was removed has now been well and truly vindicated I believe. I know the head curator and believe he is an excellent curator in general but simply can't believe that this has occurred. There is no hiding from this. do not hold your breath re the Mods instead o fmoderating topics by deleting the things that need deleting, they just pull the whole topics, taking what is usually 80 % good and relevant posts into the shredder

ColonelKurtz · October 2015

Agree falcon, unfortunately it won't happen. WATC committee are seemingly untouchable, they operate in a polar opposite universe, they stick together so that nothing sticks or gets stuck to them.

They'll make someone take the fall for this while they hide in the shadows. Nothing will change until the whole rotten structure is torn down.

paraletic · October 2015

I think its time for the current mob to stand down and go with an external management consultant to run the business.

magoo83 · October 2015

Maybe tomorrow they should take a drive down to Bunbury and see how a track should be prepared

Bean · October 2015

I went to Belmont last meeting of the year on Irish day and left half way when I found out they had disconnected the aircon. This was apparently done before the last meeting but why??? Just another balls up by Perth racing, they will start losing membership the way they are going

lame · October 2015

magoo83 said:
Maybe tomorrow they should take a drive down to Bunbury and see how a track should be prepared

bunbury may be smick this year but they too ballsed up a few years ago spraying weeds and almost killing the turf

jum · October 2015

JUST IN FROM PERTH RACING

Next Saturdays meeting, the RAIL will be out 185KMS.

For entry, please access the gate down Forrest highway.

8-} What a Bunch of muppets

hash · October 2015

thetruth said:
Just got informed that the track manager is also a consultant on 2 other jobs, the new stadium being one of them. How can you get the track right when your minds on other things? Apparently he is barely seen at the track during the week and leaves things to people who obviously don't have a clue.

happens all too often these days, too many big wigs trying to get extra feathers in their cap and take on way too much responsibility that they're capable for... meanwhile all the tasks and projects they're in on fall over and end up worse than what they were from the beginning.. they need @carey running they're HR dept ;)

RIO · October 2015

I thought they got a management team to manage the turf to save the cost of employing a full time turf manager. That seems to have been a bit of false economising if my memory is correct!!

scoot · October 2015

I have heard the GM of tracks brought in his mate to help him because of his outside commitments. This guy nows nothing about horse tracks and what 500kg of beast running over it can do. The manager that looked after the track when Murphy left didn't have any of these issues, maybe they should have given him the job.
On the GM's outside work, I believe he is a consultant to the new stadium for the turf ( Maybe that is where he wants to be?) and also looks after the South Perth Cricket pitch. I believe he employed staff to do that.
Conflict of interest I must say.
Embarrassing day yesterday.
Obviously he isn't concentrating on what he was paid for?
He and his mate must pay for this.
I don't think anything will happen though because the committee love this guy and he is very good at deflecting blame.
The only good thing about yesterday was the bar downstairs, really enjoyed it.

spinking · October 2015

It would be interesting to see who the other candidates were when the position of curator was advertised I have heard a course curator from Melbourne applied

turf · October 2015

go back to Belmont and fix Ascot now will take a good 3 weeks? someone needs to make the call.

ColourfulRD · October 2015

I don't understand what they were doing having a track gallop anyway. Was the other horse that was working with Lenience a star galloper going to Melb, no disrespect to Lenience but why were they having a workout on the grass when blind Freddie saw what damage was done during the week?

aussiebob14 · October 2015

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on here and this is only my second year as a member of Perth Racing/WATC and I am really disappointed with what I saw yesterday.

The thing that made me become a member was knowing that I'd be able to sit on the top floor, be guaranteed to get a seat, and not have to guard it so that no one else would pinch it whilst I walked off to the bar to get a drink etc. But what I experienced yesterday was really disappointing, I was excited to hear about the facilities being updated, but it's now gone from one extreme to the other.

It took me close to 30 mins in line to get food.
The service at the members bar was awful (at one point one of the members of bar staff went to pour me a schooner, the keg ran out, I said I was happy to have a different beer, and he then proceeded to tip the 1/3 of the initial beer out and start filling it with the other type :-O).
The new decking on the members floor is ridiculous. It looks as though they have ripped out 30-50% of the seats up there, so it's going to be an absolute nightmare on railway stakes day. Am I wrong to have thought that the idea of the members floor was to provide comfortable conditions for people who actually like watching races??
That whole debacle with the track and the exhibition race really just topped off my disappointment for the day.

So I've got my election ballot paper in front of me and I want to see change, are any of these candidates actually going to provide that, or are they just mates of the chairman?

Aquanita · October 2015

Interesting to see that Patrick Bartley Chief Racing Writer for the Melbourne Age was initially barred from attending the Caulfield Cup over derogatory articles he wrote about the state of the Caulfield track. This was later rescinded when the Melbourne media threatened not to report on the meeting.

It will be interesting to see how hard the local media go on this debacle.

RIO · October 2015

@Aquanita this is now a debacle??? why the change of attitude..less than a week ago PR were wonderful and we were all loud mouth, know all whingers!!

@aussiebob14 the only advice i can give you on the election papers is to vote for those who aren't sitting members. If they allowed the place to get to this situation they are not part of the solution, but part of the problem.

And you also have one of the most commonly held misconceptions among new members, that membership buys you a seat. it doesn't. On the big days PR sells entertainment and day tickets that are way greater than the members area can hold, on the other days, they wont stop people sitting 2 to a table and holding chairs and tables all day..... Its a great club to go to on the slow days, very comfortable, but get a decent day of racing, and there is next to no benefit in being a member.

aussiebob14 · October 2015

Aquanita said:
Interesting to see that Patrick Bartley Chief Racing Writer for the Melbourne Age was initially barred from attending the Caulfield Cup over derogatory articles he wrote about the state of the Caulfield track. This was later rescinded when the Melbourne media threatened not to report on the meeting.

It will be interesting to see how hard the local media go on this debacle.

That was a strange one yesterday, interesting to see the media saying they'd go on strike for race 2 if Pat Barley wasn't allowed back in - the irony being that he'd taken a few potshots at them for not reporting the Cobalt stories so that they could get their privileges at the track this spring.

I heard Patrick Smith from the Australian on Melbourne's SEN yesterday and he broke the story on air where it got ugly between him and old mate John 'Dr Turf' Rothfield who was sitting on the fence by not endorsing the Turf Club's decision, but also being too scared to speak up against it.

ColourfulRD · October 2015

just read where it was Watermans Bay that galloped with Lenience, that's probably fair enough

aussiebob14 · October 2015

RIO said:
@Aquanita this is now a debacle??? why the change of attitude..less than a week ago PR were wonderful and we were all loud mouth, know all whingers!!

@aussiebob14 the only advice i can give you on the election papers is to vote for those who aren't sitting members. If they allowed the place to get to this situation they are not part of the solution, but part of the problem.

And you also have one of the most commonly held misconceptions among new members, that membership buys you a seat. it doesn't. On the big days PR sells entertainment and day tickets that are way greater than the members area can hold, on the other days, they wont stop people sitting 2 to a table and holding chairs and tables all day..... Its a great club to go to on the slow days, very comfortable, but get a decent day of racing, and there is next to no benefit in being a member.

Yeah i see your point, the days I enjoyed most were the weeks in the lead up to the carnival because there were some good horses going around and it was quiet and relaxed, but I feel more like a number and less of a member on the big days than I did last year. I fully understand that they've had to push in to the market of creating an exclusive area on big carnival days because its a great source of revenue for the club, but doing things like ripping out 50 seats for the sake of 2-3 tables on a deck really wasn't the wisest assessment of opportunity-cost. New Decking = great idea, poorly executed, but we're now stuck with it.

RIO · October 2015

As a member we no longer go on eh big race days. Or if we do we don't even try to go to the members as i just get annoyed at all the paper badged day passes, stuffing up "MY" (haha) members floor.

So when we go now we relax, move around comfortable and really enjoy it.. A shame that they don't organise a members area and an entertainment area for day pass people. Like restaurants, etc..but last time i mentioned that when these renovations were being mooted i was actually laughed at by a board member!! EDIT....not for the first time I'll admit, but probably the last time

G'day Punter!

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