Longford participants meeting 3 August

Hello Longford Participants

Thank you to those who attended the meeting at the Country Club Hotel on the evening of August 3

It proved to be a constructive discussion and summarised below are the key outcomes plus an update in relation to communication with Tasracing onsite staff and general operations

Please contact me directly with any questions or comments

Andrew Jenkins
COO & Acting CEO

LONGFORD AS A WORKPLACE

• We all need to work together to make Longford (and any Tasracing venue) safe and, ideally, an enjoyable workplace
  

• It’s not ok to abuse or threaten Tasracing staff of another participant. This would not be tolerated in any other workplace and won’t be tolerated in ours
  

• Common sense and professional courtesy will avoid most issues even occurring
  

• Updated process for how Track Stewards will handle an alleged issue –
  

• • Raise verbally at the time with the participant
    
  • Send participant a brief e-mail following up the verbal conversation
    
  • If the issue is of a serious nature or re-occurs send a file note to Tasracing management who may –
    • raise with the rider’s trainer, or the ATA if a trainer-related issue
      
    • refer to ORI for investigation
      
    • consider exclusion from venue(s) for serious matters that are deemed to have potential to immediately impact safety
      

LONGFORD OPERATIONS

• Can we consider changing the sand track to be the same as the grass track and other training tracks, i.e. fast work inside, slow work outside? Tasracing feels this has be retained at Longford for safety reasons due to horses exiting the track from inside the sand track
  

• Can we stop using two sets of cones for grass track work? This is a practice to manage track wear from galloping. I will discuss further with participants and my team
  

• Track Stewards doing a great job lately. Thank you and have passed this on
  

• Requests for general maintenance and suggestions can be sent to longford@tasracing.com.au
  

• Requests for stable maintenance can be sent to stablemaintenance@tasracing.com.au
  

This will enable work to prioritised and monitored centrally, rather than passed on verbally on-course

Common sense applies and simple items (e.g. gas bottle needs changing) can be handled on the spot

The Track Manager can be contacted directly on mobile between 7:30am – 4:30pm Monday to Friday

Outside of those hours the Track Manager should only be contacted for urgent matters – this includes sms

Please note that during track opening hours the Track Steward should be the initial point of contact.

GENERAL BUSINESS

• Need hot water in the top wash. Tasracing will investigate
  

• When races start early there needs to be communication with the host Club to ensure participants can access food and drinks earlier, too. Agree and actioned
  

• What is the position on smoking in Mounting Yards? Looks unprofessional and likely in breach of relevant law. It’s a challenging issue with jockeys being smokers & they cannot leave the mounting yard area due to integrity constraints. We have allocated them an area to smoke in the far corner of the Spreyton Mounting yard
  

• Track rider accreditation is illogical and dangerous –
  

• • Can’t sit on a Thoroughbred prior to assessment
    
  • Do Stewards have the experience to assess, could use Apprentice Coach or OTT Coaches?
    

Valid points and Tasracing has placed this rule on the agenda for our next Exec meeting with ORI.