Greyville. All seems well again and racing goes on
The historic Greyville circuit appears to have passed the acid test of racing with flying colours as last night’s meeting was completed without incident and also received a big thumbs up from all the jockeys.
The lengthy renovation process included the relaying of grass at the around the 300m mark after a newly constructed tunnel was completed.
The area has given the Gold Circle track managers a headache and a number of meetings had to be moved to other venues.
A well patronised eight race programme went off without incident.
Gold Circle’s Chief Operations Officer Graeme Hawkins said today that the track had raced exceptionally well and had received high praise all round.
“ It has been a tough road to get the track back to its absolute best, but on the flipside the lack of racing at Greyville should assist in ensuring it remains good throughout the Champions Season,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins said that the new permanent big screen was also big hit. “ It has really fantastic; high quality and crystal clear definition. As a matter of interest we have also completely refurbished the Saddlers Arms restaurant and that too is looking great. The improvements were very well received by the patrons,” he said.
Pleased. Gold Circle Chief Operations Officer Graeme Hawkins
Greyville night meetings have a unique atmosphere and the city track is by far and away the most popular racecourse for an atmosphere and visual aspect in the country.
The Greyville Racecourse surrounds the Royal Durban Golf Club’s Championship course, which provides a picture of green grass and foliage throughout the year framed in the background by the many hotels of Durban’s Golden Mile.
In 1996, history was made when it became the first track in the country to successfully install floodlights, enabling the course to accommodate night racing at all its midweek meetings.
The track is pear-shaped and covers a distance of 2 800 metres. A road from the Berea to the centre of the city passes under the course, and the construction of the two subways resulted in the course having a number of unusual gradient features,
A thrilled Graeme Hawkins said that ‘a much bigger crowd’ than usual was on course for the ‘reopening’ and said that this was most encouraging.
