KEY POINTS:
The demise of the penetrometer might have moved a step closer at Pukekohe yesterday.
For the second time in two months, chief stipendiary steward Cameron George overruled the official penetrometer reading - and for the second time got it right.
George was at Pukekohe early yesterday morning for
the official reading to gauge the track condition.
When the reading came up at 3.8, which is in the early part of the slow range, George stepped in and ordered two horses to be galloped on the course proper.
Without even asking for the opinions of the jockeys, he then insisted on a heavy rating.
And it was obvious after the first of the eight races that rating was accurate.
Which presents the board and management team at New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing with a problem of how to move forward to ensure accurate track ratings.
Cameron George admits he is losing all faith in the penetrometer.
"We were a full category [slow to heavy] away from being right with the penetrometer this time," said George.
"The slow range is from 3.5 to 4.5 and it was obvious it was further out than that. If we'd posted a slow rating we'd have had egg on our face.
"Sending a metal pin into the ground may not be the ideal way to test a track. Technology doesn't always work and it may not be the ideal way to do a reading.
"Four legs and a jockey might be the right way."
And surely there is no mystery to that.
If you want to gauge how far a horse will press into a track, doesn't it make sense to test that with a horse rather than a metal pin?
Inconsistent, and quite clearly inaccurate, penetrometer readings have become a major frustration for owners, trainers and punters. "The horses today ripped the track to threads," said George.
Which also raises an interesting point.
Pukekohe has had its safety dramas and yesterday's meeting was it's first official use following a lengthy spell.
It was a magnificent result that the meeting went ahead with no safety issues, but no horse was going to find a problem with safety when they were going into the surface so far.
"Perhaps the best and truest test of the track will come when it is a high two reading, but it was excellent to see that no safety issues were raised today," said George.
* In-form James McDonald yesterday equalled Jason Waddell's record of 62 wins for a first-year apprentice when he rode the well-fancied Paper Doll to win the pukekohe travel 1600, the last race at Pukekohe.
Waddell had previously eclipsed the record set by Linda Jones.
