The Fairview Turf (Pic – Pauline Herman)
Trent Mayhew’s fall in the pull-up area at Fairview on Friday 19 April has led to the National Horseracing Authority holding a meeting on Friday at Fairview Racecourse.
Young Mayhew dislocated his shoulder and will be out for a few weeks.
Friday’s meeting covered concerns that had been raised by stakeholders concerning the condition of the racecourse in previous weeks when racing took place on the turf surface. The pull-up area was the most pressing agenda item.
Riders, representatives from 4Racing and Officials licensed by the NHA formed the list of participants at the meeting.
With one of the Eastern Cape’s feature race days a mere fortnight away, the participants provided in depth constructive inputs to facilitate a racing surface that would serve the best interests of human and equine athletes on 10 May 2024, which is the next Turf race meeting at Fairview, and into the future.
Certain recommendations were advanced at the meeting, following a track inspection, to facilitate improvements to the turf surface, and particularly the pull-up area.
Further track inspections and turf gallops are scheduled to take place on 3 May 2024 and all representatives will be provided with an opportunity to provide further input to attain the common goal of a track surface that serves all stake holder interests.
Mayhew’s fall followed that of unexplained accidents involving four other riders over recent months in the pull-up area at the Gqeberha track.
