Track Manager - Port Macquarie Race Club

Barrier trials at PMRC this morning. 22 horses jumped out and burned across the new racing surface with trainers and riders giving it the tick of approval. Video of the 5 trials can be found on the racing nsw website. Thankyou to trainer John Sprague who helped out last week, giving the winning post a lick of paint and freshen up. Looks great! First meeting back is Prelude day is on 29th September. Can’t wait to be back racing 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

This week has seen us take another step closer to racing with the inside rail being installed back into it’s true position. We’re finally looking like a racetrack again 🐎

Progress update on our course proper rebuild. The track was handed back over to PMRC after approximately 300 days in the hands of contractors, (Evergreen). As you can see from the current pics it is looking green and healthy and finally looking like a racetrack again! The plan moving forward is to work a couple of horses on it around august. If that is successful, we will then schedule some trials where the track will experience some Raceday pressure. If everyone is happy with how it performs, our first meeting back will be the 29th September, which will be our prelude day, then straight into Port cup in October. Giddy up 🐎

Quick update on the grow in of the new kikuyu on our course proper. After 4 weeks of very dry and hot conditions we finally received some much needed storms and rainfall to help kick things on a bit. As you can see it is coming along nicely with most of the good work happening below the surface. The root growth on that plant which is pictured in my opinion is the most important and impressive part of the grow in thus far. Notice the fibre particles in the root zone which helps with anchorage and stabilisation. Looking forward to 2024 and scheduling race meetings again 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

Port Macquarie on track for 2024 return Upgrades to the Port Macquarie Race Club racecourse are on track, with the club now in a ‘grow stage’ after new Kikuyu turf was laid.

A day we’ve waited a long time for has arrived with the planting of the kikuyu turf. It is not your traditional way of laying down slabs of turf. The rolls of turf go onto a conveyor belt which then get shredded inside the machine and then dropped out onto the bed we made in the sand layer for all the material to sit in. We then roll it in, give it another topdress with more sand. Add some starter fertiliser and irrigate regularly. Then it is the exciting part of watching grass grow. Giddy up!! 🐎

With the completion of the 16,000 tonne of sand being brought onto the track, it was time today to start incorporating the fibre material all the way into the profile. This is relatively new technology and something more and more racetracks are being built with. This will provide many advantages including extra stability for horse and rider and a more consistent racing surface throughout the entire track. We’re still on track to be planting the new grass early next week 👍

Quick trip down to Sydney this morning to check on the eureka kikuyu growing at evergreens turf farm. Was looking in excellent condition ahead of being harvested in a few weeks and brought up to be planted into our track. As you can see in the pic below, the root mass is very healthy which is key to having the perfect racing surface. Can’t wait to get it growing in and prepare for races again! 🐎

Finally after a few frustrating weeks getting base and gravel levels perfect, the first of the sand was beginning to be delivered. With 16,000 tonne going on to the track, we’re hoping to get out 1000 tonne a day so fingers crossed this stage will be completed in 3 weeks. It’s just a matter then of incorporating some amendments into the profile and getting correct levels again before we can start growing grass! Some rain would be nice about then also 🙏🐎

Was great to have Michael Wood (Royal Randwick) and Greg Carmody (Canterbury) visit the club today to have a look at the track upgrade. Really appreciated the visit 👍

Just an update on the track rebuild.
The last of the sand material has been removed from the track exposing the gravel drainage. Next step is to treat the gravel layer getting it to a uniformed even depth around the entire circuit before the new sand starts arriving next week.

2 days in to the rebuild of the course proper at pmrc. A few pics and a video to keep you all updated. Will post more over the next few months 👍

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Great day for racing today Port Macquarie Race Club. Track is in great order and should race fair for all runners. Good luck to all involved 👍

Our track has bounced back nicely after a little renovation last month with a good cover of grass around the entire circuit. Looking forward to racing again on New Year’s Day and into 2023! Hope everyone has a great Christmas ☀️🍻🏇🏽

Our annual renovation practice of dethatching is currently taking place. The track will benefit greatly with the removal of a lot of dead material out of the profile giving us a nice dense grass growth of kikuyu leading into next year with the first meeting of the year on New Year’s Day! 👍🐎

After a confident win in the Port Macquarie Cup, Chris Waller Racing trained Quality Time is off to the Big Dance. With a couple of good wins under his belt, is he the one to watch?

Tickets at: https://www.australianturfclub.com.au/races/the-big-dance-on-cup-day/

And you can watch the inaugural Big Dance on CH7 or Sky Thoroughbred Central on Tuesday, November 1.

7 races going ahead today with the first kicking off at 1:45pm. Track rated a heavy 9 after 60mm of rain recorded in the last 4 days. Rail out 3 metres the entire circuit. Good luck to all involved 🍻💰🐎

Looking forward to a massive Port cup day with a beautiful sunny day ahead! Rail is in true and track is rated a soft 7. Massive effort by a lot of people to make it a successful couple of days with another 7 races for Saturday also. Goodluck to all involved 👍🐎💰🍻

Rail moving out 3metres the entire circuit for this Sundays Port cup prelude meeting. Beautiful conditions today with the track rated a soft 7. Fingers crossed the wet weather forecasted for the next couple of days stays away and we can get close to a good track for Sunday 🐎

Racing this Friday 12th!

With an adequate weather forecast up until, and during Friday, we expect track conditions to remain a Soft 7, and the rail +2m entire. We hope to see you there for a good days sport!

Should be a great day of racing at port today! Goodluck to all involved 🐎

Beautiful morning for trackwork 🐎