Hastings Racecourse, General Manager, Darren MacDonald called two meetings yesterday to show a open door policy to horsemen with the racing office to discuss relevant issues pertaining to the 2014 Live Season at Hastings.
The race office official met with the Jockey Agents during the first meeting and it was a very fruitful meeting with the jock’s representatives. Along with the race office officials the President’s of the CTHS and HBPA were on hand and myself as the BCHRIMC member.
The agents spoke freely and offered several good points and it was concluded that the racing secetary, Stuart Slagle will meet every Thursday morning at 8:00am to hear any thoughts on what agents might suggest as extra’s, etc for the following week of live racing. That was a very solid move in the right direction in my view.
The feedback after the meeting was very positive from agents as well as owners and trainers.
The second meeting was with several trainers on the grounds and the discussions were focused around hearing their views on the current race conditions currently being offered by the race office and any suggestions the horsemen might have on bettering racing for the 2014 season.
The horsemen had plenty to say and all in a very positive and professional manner and the meeting ended with several suggestions and some are being implemented immediately.
Several of the trainers after the meeting were quite excited about the totally open attitude of the race office and hoped it was a step forward for the future.
General Manager, Darren MacDonald came out of both meetings with a smile on his face and very positive attitude for the betterment of not only the track operator but also the horsemen and their views. MacDonald said ” He will look into scheduling more of these meetings in the near future with horsemen and their representatives.”
The Horsemen’s Representatives also discussed the re-scheduling of Sunday, May 18th until we have more horses ready to run and it was a total unanimous decision to move that date until Wednesday, July 23rd with a 3:00pm twilight start.
There will be some straight 3 year-old Alw/NW2 offered as well as some $35,000 open claimers for older horses as well as a result of the meetings.
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