Globe Derby Park trainer puts grit on road to stop horse slipping
A street sweeper was dispatched to a newly resealed suburban street three times to remove grit put down by a harness racing trainer to stop his horse slipping.
North & North East
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A harness racing trainer has been putting grit on a newly sealed road at Globe Derby Park to stop his horse from slipping – prompting complaints to the local council.
Grayling Crt resident Phil Pavlovich said he had tipped three loads of grit near his house after another trainer’s horse toppled on the road while his horse had almost fallen as it struggled for traction.
Trainers frequently use roads within Globe Derby Park to move their horses to training tracks owned by the community and the SA Harness Racing Club.
Mr Pavlovich said he put grit from his driveway to a nearby training area soon after his road was resealed with bitumen by a contractor, Downer, for Salisbury Council.
“They came and put the new road down and it looked good,” he said.
“But then when I went to work my horse, my horse started slipping on the road because of its steel shoes.
“A guy from Downer came back to do some tests and I talked to him about it and he suggested putting grit on the road to create more grip for my horse.”
Mr Pavlovich said he put a wheelbarrow load of shell grit in a strip from his driveway to the entrance to a community-owned training area.
“I put it down like the guy suggested and then two days later a street sweeper came around and picked it up so I put some more down,” he said.
“Three days later the street sweeper came back again so I put more down again.”
Mr Pavlolich said his wife rang Salisbury Council to question why the street sweeper kept removing the grit.
“We hadn’t seen a street sweeper for six months and suddenly we have one in front of our house three times,” he said.
Mr Pavlovich said a council staff member told his wife that it was OK for them to put the grit on the road to protect their horse.
“The next thing is we get a telephone call from Salisbury Council’s complaint department telling my wife they had got 100 complaints,” he said.
“My wife told the guy that we were only doing what the council had told us to do so he goes away and checks.
“Next minute he rings her back to apologise and says he had got five anonymous complaints, not a hundred.”
Mr Pavlovich said he and his wife had been working with Salisbury Council and Downer on finding a solution to the slippage issue.
Downer had used a street sweeper to scour the road to temporarily create more grip.
“The council and Downer have been really good,” Mr Pavlovich said.
“We don’t expect them to pull the road up.
“They are doing everything in their capability to find a solution for us. At the moment it is about 60 per cent there.”
A council spokesperson said Downer had completed extra work on the road without charging ratepayers.
“The council was made aware that a resident who used the road to transport their horse to the nearby track was concerned the new surface was slippery for the horse,” the spokesperson said.
“Council’s contractor worked with the resident to solve the matter by completing further road work at no cost to council.
“The resident is satisfied with the outcome. Council will continue to work closely with our residents in the area.”