Fears that the Elwick track would not be ready to host the Tasmanian Racing Club’s next meeting on January 24 were quashed on Thursday following an inspection of remedial work that has been carried out on the track surface over the past fortnight.
Remedial work was demanded after a meeting scheduled to be held at Elwick on December 27 was abandoned owing to the track being declared unsafe for racing.
But the work already carried out by Tasracing track maintenance staff received glowing reports from trainers and jockeys during Thursday’s inspection.
The state’s two leading riders David Pires and Bulent Muhcu agreed that the work already done to remedy the issues was amazing.
“After walking the track today, we can see the work that has gone into getting the track right is paying off,” Pires said.
“The grass cover is great and there aren’t any dangerous areas.”
Muhcu said the change in the racing surface was “amazing”.
Hall of Fame trainer Gary White said the track he walked on Thursday was good enough to race on.
“This track will improve even more by the time the next meeting is held on the track on Sunday week,” White said.
Another trainer Stephen Shaw was amazed at the difference in the track surface, compared to the one that led to the abandoned meeting.
“I can’t believe the difference in the track we saw today to the one on December 27,” Shaw said.
“What we walked on today was pretty close to the track we had served up to us for the opening day in February last year.”
Tasracing CEO Paul Eriksson said the track maintenance program was working.
“I am pleased that the industry participants who inspected the track were extremely happy with what they saw and there is no doubt all meetings scheduled at Elwick during the summer carnival will proceed as planned,” Eriksson said.