Racing: Experts check Pukekohe turf

A meeting of turf and track consultants tomorrow morning will decide the fate of the $100,000 Counties Cup on November 19.

The meeting scheduled for Pukekohe Park was put in doubt when yesterday's minor raceday was abandoned because of safety concerns by jockeys.

The Waikato Racing Club's track manager, Neil Treweek, and Hawkes Bay Racing's Gary Foskett will inspect the Pukekohe home straight tomorrow morning with turf expert Dr Richard Green, who has been overseeing the turf replacement over major drainage work at the course.

The problem which led to yesterday's abandonment is a slightly sunken and discoloured cut across the track at the 200m.

"It's not the main drain, it's where there is a feeder drain going across the course proper to meet up with the main drain on the outside," said stipendiary steward Alan Coles.

"The turf over it has sunken between one and a half inches and two inches.

"Jockeys felt horses could catch the firmer edge of the cut and perhaps stumble.

"It was right where apprentices might be letting their heads go and starting to use the whip.

"There was also the visual aspect - you could see the different colour across the track from 100m away and from a higher angle horses see that quickly.

"If you had one swing sideways and another horse cannon in it, there could have been trouble.

"You could have raced and probably got away with it, but if something had happened we would have been hung out to dry."

Counties CEO Greg Mitchell said he believed everything was fine when a couple of horses galloped over the affected area on Tuesday morning.

"It wasn't until the jockeys came back in the afternoon that we knew of any concerns."

Senior jockeys Leith Innes, Allan Peard, Lee Tiley, Peter Johnson and Grant Cooksley inspected the track.

"Grant, for one, said he probably wouldn't ride on it," said Coles.

"Once you get one senior jockey saying they won't ride, word gets around. They would have arrived at the track this morning, inspected it and said they wouldn't ride.

"I left it to the club to make their decision. They had been advised by Thoroughbred Racing that the decision should be made the day before the races, not on the race day, and they clearly wanted that too."

Mitchell said it would be decided tomorrow where to move the cup meeting if it was felt the track could not be remedied in time.