GOLD COAST'S NEW TURF TRACK GETS A HIGH PASS MARK

By Graham Potter | Sunday, December 10, 2023

The new turf track at the Gold Coast Turf Club scored a high pass mark in it’s first test under true racing conditions on Saturday when seventy-five horses, over seven races, competed in the first race meeting held on the new racing surface.

While it was only the first test, the positive result was predicted with jockeys who had and the opportunity to gallop horses on the track in the lead-up to its debut meeting all suitably impressed with the way the track was ... and is ... progressing and Saturday’s outcome has cemented their on-going optimism.

The good thing is that nobody is getting ahead of themselves. Going the early crow about a new track has been done before. It is not a good idea. Gently does it ... one step at a time carries the day, and that is the approach the Gold Coast Turf Club and the jockeys based at the Gold Coast are taking.

“It has played very well,” said jockey Michael Cahill after the last race on Saturday. “Obviously, it is a brand new track. The turf has still got to consolidate more ... but it has got really good positive signs.

“It is a terrific track to ride on. They have done a great job with the cambering. There is a little bit of an incline from about the 500m until you get properly straightened and the horses go around it well.

“Until they have been racing on it for a while, you are not going to know what pattern, if any, there is going to be ... but look, at this stage, we couldn’t be happier.

“I’ve been on a few brand new tracks in my time and, I’ve got to say, this is the best I’ve been on in terms of the way it has handled its debut.

“It’s already a good track now ... and it is only going to get better as the turf consolidates and matures.

“You really have to give a lot of credit to Nevesh (Ramdhani), the curator here, and his track staff. They have really done a super job with the new track.”

After the last race on Saturday Ramdhani was out walking the track. He too was very happy with the day’s outcome but measured in his approach moving forward.

“Look, there was a bit of nerves beforehand,” admitted Ramdhani, “but what really helped was the lead-up to today.

“We simulated some races through trials and jump-outs and the track held up very well. The weather was good ... and whilst there is always a bit of nerves, there was a confidence level there as well that the track would be pretty good based on our tests so far.

“When you look at the grass right now, it doesn’t look like it is six months old ... and that’s because we have put a lot of work into it for it to consolidate up to this point as quickly as possible ... but, obviously, Michael (Cahill) is right. The track still has to consolidate more.

“In fact, with every new track it normally takes a year, sometimes two years to fully consolidate and be the track it is going to be in the future but, everything we have done up until this point been well thought about, planned and executed ... and the benefit of that showed today.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves though. We absolutely don’t want to be in that position.

“We strive to make it the best track, but we still have a long way to go to get there and we have to keep that perspective.

“This is a good start ... and, what we can see from Saturday’s meeting, is that we are on our way and moving in the right direction,” concluded Ramdhani.

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