Patience Rewarded With Successful Conference
The win of Pizarro with Hugh Bowman in the saddle in race ten of the Royal Randwick race meeting on Saturday officially drew the curtain on a successful 2022 Polvin Fencing ARMA Conference.
Beginning on Thursday 18 August, over 160 delegates and sponsors attended each day of the Presentations & Trade Shows with delegates flying in from every state of Australia, a strong contingent from New Zealand and even two delegates from the United Kingdom.
ARMA Chairman Lindsay Murphy was delighted with the event that saw a record number of delegates in attendance and a record number of partners. “We are extremely grateful to all our Members who not only made the trip to attend the Conference, but contributed throughout all the facets of the Conference. After three long years of cancellations and postponements, it was a huge thrill to have all our ARMA Members together again.
The support from our 33 partners has been overwhelming as the show doesn’t happen without them, it’s that simple. A special thank you to Jackie Hanslo and the Polvin Fencing Systems team for their support as the naming rights sponsor of our event.
I’d like to thank Michael Wood and the ATC (Australian Turf Club) for hosting the Conference. The new facilities of the Winx Stand are amazing and the event and catering staff and service were all tremendous.
I’d also like to thank all those that presented at the Conference, with many of them flying into Sydney just to present for the betterment of our Delegates. We worked hard to provide a range of highly qualified speakers to present across a range of topics and we hope that all our Members are going back to their Clubs on Monday, armed with new ideas and information to help them succeed in their roles”.
Topics that were covered throughout the Conference included;
- Using drones as part of your Track Management
- The impact of Climate Change on Turf Management practises
- Major project updates of Caulfield Inner Track & the Gold Coast Turf Club Master Plan
- Recognising and addressing your Mental Health
- The important role Racecourse Managers play in the media
- Advantages of foliar feeding
- Improving your leadership skills as a Racecourse Manager
- Preventing racehorse injuries with Professor Chris Whitton
- How the UK Racing navigated through Covid and TurfTrax future developments
- The impact and management of recent NSW floods on the Turf Industry.
One of the many highlights of the Conference was Richie Callander interviewing Hugh Bowman during the Conference Dinner, aptly held in the Winx Stand. Hugh provided the 170+ strong delegates in attendance some amazing insights into riding the four time Cox Plate winner and what his future holds, while Richie’s comedic efforts were enjoyed by the crowd as always. Many thanks to Evergreen Turf for organizing both Richie and Hugh to attend.
The Association is extremely grateful to Jason Petch and Behind The Barriers who announced that Racecourse Managers are now eligible to access the mental health support program free of charge.
The location for the 2023 ARMA Conference is yet to formalized and members will be notified once it is official.
