NZTR’s continued work on the Awapuni racing surface was highlighted in an article published today by The Straight’s Tim Rowe.

As Liam O’Keeffe monitors weather forecasts and rain radars, moisture metres and temperatures, the Victoria Racing Club’s head of racecourse has more than just Flemington on his mind.
 
Ahead of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, the four days at Flemington which hosts Australia’s biggest betting race on the first Tuesday in November and shapes the VRC’s annual bottom line, O’Keeffe’s attention was this week also drawn across the Tasman.
 
His advice was sought on the return of New Zealand’s renovated Awapuni racecourse, with officials determining more time was required and work undertaken to have the turf surface at a racing standard before meetings are scheduled for the Central Districts course.
 
It is a scenario that O’Keeffe’s become increasingly familiar with, either in an emergency or in an ongoing capacity, such is his reputation as a racecourse turf guru that has seen principal racing authorities and race clubs reach out for assistance.
 
This year alone, O’Keeffe has answered SOS’ from the Gold Coast Turf Club on the eve of its Magic Millions carnival and Perth Racing, which undertook urgent remedial work on its winter metropolitan racecourse Belmont.
 
The Melbourne Racing Club also called on the expertise of its cross-town rival to help assist in the preparation of Caulfield, with O’Keeffe applying a methodical, data-driven assessment to develop a maintenance program for the track.
 
For O’Keeffe, the demand led to the establishment of a turf consultancy business in conjunction with the VRC while maintaining his role of overseeing the management of Flemington’s race and training tracks.
 
“It’s probably off the back of just assisting racecourses over the last couple of years, so we set up a track consultancy business where we help out other racecourses around Australia and around the world as well as any turf companies that require assistance with racecourses,” O’Keeffe tells The Straight.
 
“I really enjoy helping out other tracks and clubs and racecourse managers and turf companies. It’s going really well.”
 
The genesis of the VRC and O’Keeffe’s turf consultancy business, which officially began early this year, was when Tasracing’s reconstructed Elwick racecourse struck trouble in late 2020, placing its summer carnival – and the Hobart Cup – in jeopardy.
 
“Every racecourse is different, whether it’s in Victoria or overseas, but all the principles are the same, and it’s just about assisting, be they new racecourse managers, or they may have a new track built that may be different to the previous track they’ve had,” he said.
 
“Sand-based tracks are completely different to your generic loam-type tracks, so you’ve got to treat them differently with different maintenance methods and machinery.
 
“It’s probably just passing on the knowledge that I’ve been lucky enough to gain over the last 21 years that is important for racecourses producing a safe and fair track on race day.”
 
More recently, respected international thoroughbred industry identity Olly Tait has also recruited O’Keeffe, with the turf expert assisting growing Qatari force Wathan Racing build a state-of-the-art training facility in the Middle East.
 
“It’s an amazing facility… and once it’s completed it’ll be the best training facility I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world,” O’Keeffe said.
 
“And I’m not surprised because they’re a super professional organisation. They put the horse and staff first and that reflects in their results.
 
“They had five winners at Royal Ascot this year and they’ll continue to get bigger across the world because they’re setting themselves up for some success.
 
“So, it’s a pleasure to be able to work for an organisation like that.”

For the past week, O’Keeffe’s team has been intensely focused on ensuring the best surface possible for Derby, Cup, Oaks and Champions day at Flemington with the track “right where we want it” heading into Saturday’s nine-race card.
 
And he’s confident that Flemington will play fairly for punters.
 
“Starting six days out from every race day, we start measuring the surface right across fairly intensely for not only to have the right amount of give and moisture in the track so that it’s suitable for all runners right through the day, but also the evenness across the track,” he said.
 
“And probably what’s unique to Flemington is its straight-course racing, that’s a different beast in itself to try to get 30 metres even, let alone a circle track where you’re probably just more concentrating on seven or eight metres.
 
“So, we’ve got to make sure that we’re using every tool possible and using our expertise … and fortunately, we’re able to produce some great results.”
 
Some may argue that the consultancy work could distract from the preparation but O’Keeffe dismisses that suggestion, describing his role as not dissimilar to that of managing a major training operation with stables in multiple locations.
 
He also praised the staff who work under him including assistant track manager Brendan Jackson.
 
“It’s probably no different at Chris Waller’s or Ciaron Maher’s. You don’t have to be actually looking at the horse or watching it every day if you’ve got all (the systems) set up,” he said.
 
“As long as you’ve got your checks and balances in place, you can keep a handle on it (with the technology in place), so it’s no different to whether you are there or not.”