Eagle Farm swings into gear with track manager Greg Puckeridge confident issues thing of the past

The Eagle Farm track saga has had more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie mystery, but there are hopes the grand old lady is finally ready to race near her best on Saturday.

The Eagle Farm track proper is prepared for a morning trackwork session.

Eagle Farm is ready to bounce back into action after a 10-week break and track manager Greg Puckeridge is confident the latest version of the often controversial track is the best and says there will be a “more spongy, softer surface”.

Queensland’s premier racetrack has been out of racing action since October 3 for a planned renovation but will return for Saturday‘s meeting highlighted by the Stradbroke Handicap qualifier of the $250,000 The Gateway as well as a pair of Magic Millions 2YO lead-ups.

The track has been beset by a long catalogue of problems in recent years and has had setback after setback although has generally raced well in 2020, despite problems with thatch issues and the hardness of the track at various points.

The Eagle Farm surface has been beset by a long catalogue of problems in recent years.

At times in the past few years, the track has become too waterlogged after just a passing shower of rain and at other times there have been complaints it has been flint-hard.

Veteran jockey Jim Byrne inspects the Eagle Farm.

Puckeridge insists there will be no such issues during the summer carnival and explains why.

“We have now minimised the organic matter (thatch) in the track, we have reduced the levels of organic matter down from nine per cent back in March to two per cent now,” Puckeridge says.

“One of the things we have done is coring down to a certain depth which has shattered the (track) profile all the way down.

“In a general sense, the track will be back to draining properly and racing much better.

“It will be a lot softer and more spongy.

“All the kikuyu grass that was running in the track has also been stripped out.

“I’m confident that Saturday will be the best that people have seen Eagle Farm in some time and it will only get better through December.”

Puckeridge said Eagle Farm, which has a sand-based profile, would need regular maintenance and work in the future, insisting “we won’t let up on it”.

Brisbane has been experiencing heatwave conditions this week and already 67mm of irrigation has been used on the track this week, plus there was 11.5mm of rain on Monday night.

Everyone is hoping for the best with the Eagle Farm track which was first closed down in 2014 but there have been repeated track nightmares since.

Up to 15mm of rain is forecast for Brisbane on Saturday.

Originally published as Eagle Farm swings into gear with track manager Greg Puckeridge confident issues thing of the past