4racing have released a statement on the various issues experienced at the Vaal today... 

VAAL RACE MEETING, 31 DECEMBER 2024
December 2024
4Racing would like to address the unfortunate delay to today’s racing at The Vaal Racecourse, 31 December 2024.

The cause of this was due to the late arrival of our contracted medical services provider for the scheduled race meeting.

As per the established standard operating procedure, a medical doctor and nurse were on course, on time. The decision to delay the race meeting was due to the paramedics and ambulance not being on site.

The service provider was furnished with the full fixture list for the current race season.

Additionally, 4Racing communicated race times for this meeting once declarations were completed.

The above is a 4Racing standard operating procedure for race operations, implemented in order to ensure that all race-day logistics are thoroughly planned and executed smoothly.

Each member of the medical team, including the allocated medical officer are required to sign in with the duty officer one hour before the start of racing.

It was during this process that our Duty Officer, discovered that the medical team had not yet arrived on course.

Upon contacting the service provider, we were informed that they had mistakenly missed the race meeting for today.

While the service provider assured us that an ambulance would be on site just before Race 1, the delay escalated when they subsequently informed us that they would be arriving 30 minutes later than initially expected.

Taking all of the factors into account, and ensuring all precautions to ensure the safety of all participants, race officials made the call to delay racing. Race 1 was then rescheduled to start at 14h15.

This delay is solely attributable to the service providers' failure to meet their contractual obligations, and it is extremely frustrating for 4Racing, our teams, and our loyal supporters.

4Racing would like to emphasize that we will be addressing this matter with service provider and further communication will follow.

We apologize to our fans, punters, participants, and stakeholders for the inconvenience caused. We appreciate your understanding as we work to prevent any future occurrences of such an instance.

Races 6 and 7 at the Vaal were abandoned due to jockeys refusing to continue racing, citing concerns over the length of the grass in the pull-up area.

4Racing officials confirm that the grass length in this area (105mm) is consistent with the rest of the track, which was prepared in accordance with standard operating procedures. 4Racing remains confident that the track is in raceable and good condition.

A track inspection was conducted after Race 4, and it was unanimously agreed that no issues were found. However, following Race 5, the jockeys firmly expressed their unwillingness to continue riding, leading to the abandonment of racing.