Tamworth horse trainers not all happy with change to track opening times

From July 3, the TJC has pushed the track's opening hours ahead by about three hours.

It means horses are now only allowed on the course from 6.15am until 10.30am.

For as long as anyone can remember, the track has always opened at the bleary-eyed hour of 3am and closed at about 9.30am.

The change means trainers now only have four hours, rather than the usual six, to get their horses worked.

Tamworth Jockey Club president Jack Penfold said the new rules were based on Racing NSW guidelines that state there must be 200 metres of ambient light.

"The jockey club policy is that once the gap attendant can see 200 metres when first light is about, then they can open the track at their discretion," Mr Penfold said.

"Which is, roughly around this time of the year, about 6.15 in the morning."

Mr Penfold said the club would monitor the track weekly or fortnightly during daylight saving as the weather warmed up and the days become longer, but it was unlikely the track would open earlier than 5.30am.

"It's more so for the safety of the riders so they're not out there in the dark," Mr Penfold said.

"We don't have sufficient lighting such as flood lights or LED lights around the track, so we can't conduct track work in pitch black darkness."

But the track changes have received a mixed reaction from local trainers.

Tamworth trainer Cody Morgan said the later starting times would help to attract and retain ground staff but he would not be able to get all his 48 horses worked within the four-hour window.

Mr Morgan said it would be even worse on race days when the track closes much earlier, at 9am.

"There's also a limited amount of track work riders in country NSW and a lot of them have jobs through the day," he said.

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"I think once [later track opening times] are implemented across the state, there'll definitely be a drop back in horse numbers trained in regional areas because of it."

Mr Morgan also said one of his top trackwork riders trained for other stables and that by the time he arrived, the rider only had about two hours to work for him due to the changes.

Veteran Tamworth trainer Mark Mason said the change to training hours was "not good" .

Mr Mason has been training horses at the Tamworth track for nearly 40 years, and he said some of the "older horses that pull a bit" on the reins were easier to handle in the dark.

"And before, it was stagnant and there wasn't as many people out there [on the track] at one time," Mr Mason said.

"But now everyone's all out there at once."

High-profile trainer Sue Grills said the change to the track's opening hours had "completely upset" her stable's routine, and also "it can be more dangerous with double the number of horses on the track at the same time".

Known for her expertise in training thoroughbreds, Tamworth-based Grills said she now only has less than an hour to work her horses during local meets.

"We can't get a lot of horses worked on Tamworth race day as the track closes at 9am [when the local races are on]," she said.

"If we leave for the races at 7am, half the horses don't get worked."

The change in training hours is a trend occurring in country areas across the state, including at Murrumbidgee where the change was adopted three months ago, Taree more than a year ago, and Scone more than a couple of years ago.

Muswellbrook Jockey Club is currently in consultation with trainers, directors and SafeWork NSW with a view to also making the change.

A racecourse in Victoria was recently fined $250,000 and a stable fined $350,000 following the workplace death of apprentice jockey Mikaela Claridge in 2019.

Ms Claridge had been with another rider Jaimee Hall when both horses were spooked in predawn conditions on a bush trail in South Melbourne.

Both riders were thrown to the ground but only Ms Hall was uninjured, with Ms Claridge being fatally wounded, according to court documents.

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