New Eagle Farm course proper still not performing to expectations

THE chief executive of the company that built the new Eagle Farm course proper has conceded the track is not performing to expectations.

Track taking time to come on deck: Sony Legend wins at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Picture: Natasha Wood, Trackside Photography

THE chief executive of the company that built the new Eagle Farm course proper has conceded the track is not performing to expectations and would have benefited from more time before being raced on.

Evergreen Turf chief executive officer Paul Mahoney also revealed that an attack of nematodes, which inhibit the track’s ability to take up water and nutrients, set the surface back many months this year.

When asked how the track was racing, Mahoney was frank in saying “obviously not as well as we’d hoped”.

“In an ideal world would you have run 190 horses on it on its first day? Absolutely not. But we understand the commercial considerations that were part of all of that,” he said.

“Ideally it should have been deferred. They’ve hit it with a pretty heavy racing schedule for a new track.”

However he maintains that once the more conducive growing seasons of spring and summer arrive, the much-maligned track will evolve “with the right maintenance practices”.

“All we can base it on is the other tracks we have in use that consistently get to a Good 4 level and maintain that,” he said.

Results at Eagle Farm last Saturday were not obscure by any means, but still many fancied runners performed poorly, with jockeys saying they simply failed to let down on the testing surface.

Turnover figures for July are due this week and will tell whether confidence has been sapped since the grand opening on Stradbroke Day.

Interestingly, leading corporate bookmaker Ladbrokes stated Eagle Farm turnover on Saturday was “significantly bigger” than recent meetings at Doomben.

Under The Louvre gets the better of Black Heart Bart in this year’s Stradbroke Handicap. Picture: Jono Searle

“Punters generally like bigger tracks. It’s the same in Melbourne, where they tend to bet more at Flemington than at Caulfield,” Ladbrokes’ Roger Oldridge said.

Another prominent corporate said Eagle Farm had been neither a positive nor a negative impact on Brisbane turnover.

Evergreen also built the new courses at Townsville and Pakenham. Townsville officials have been thrilled with how their track has performed in its first 12 months. It has the same profile as Eagle Farm, but a different breed of grass.

Mahoney said “nematode issues” had hindered turf establishment and eroded root redevelopment.

“In August last year we had roots down to the gravel. After the nematodes it was probably at 100mm, rather than 300mm,” he said. “That can certainly have a major effect in terms of stability.

“Again, that all contributed to the fact that they probably should have waited but we well understand that can’t be the case.”

Evergreen handed over control of the track to the BRC in August last year.

Times on the new track suggest it has not come close to achieving a Good rating, despite rainfall being limited since the early June deluge.

Mahoney says the track will drain at 100ml per hour, but getting moisture out of the thatch level is an issue.

Originally published as New Eagle Farm course proper still not performing to expectations