Racing: Track reading defended

Auckland Racing Club course manager Jason Fulford defends himself and the club against criticism of the track rating at Ellerslie on Saturday.

The official rating was 2.6 and easy, but jockeys claimed it was riding more like a track heading towards soft.

Fulford does not dispute that.

He says, however, that the discrepancy between the reading and how the track actually rides was the result of being forced to rate a track using a penetrometer.

"The integrity of the penetrometer has to be questioned.

"On Saturday the reading was actually closer to 2.5 than 2.6, but we made it the latter.

"I accept that it did not ride to that rating, but if we have to use a penetrometer I am going to call it as the penetrometer says.

"My opinion is that penetrometers are making track managers look like liars and or fools."

To prove his point Fulford says he believes the track today will ride almost exactly the same as it did on Saturday, but the penetrometer reading will be even firmer than it was that day.

"I did a reading this afternoon and it was closer to 2.4 than 2.5.

"If it comes up 2.4 in the morning, that's what I'm going to call it, even if it isn't accurate - but the track condition will let us down.

"That's the problem we're facing."

Matamata trainer Ken Kelso was fined $300 on Saturday for late scratching pre-post favourite Envoy when he saw the track was not racing to the near-firm rating.

Fulford says part of the problem is the extreme dry spell experienced in Auckland over the past few weeks.

"We have irrigated the track right through, but irrigation tends to sit on the surface whereas rain will penetrate better.

"When the water sits on the surface the grass roots turn up in search of moisture and it weakens the grass.

"When you get rain and the roots head down, the grass is so much stronger."