Trainers, jockeys and, most importantly, punters were frustrated as the final four races at Randwick fell victim to Sydney’s big wet on Saturday with three feature races moved to meetings in the next week.
The Silver Eagle and Angst Stakes will be run on Everest day next Saturday, making it a stronger meeting with two benchmark races taken off Australian racing’s richest day.
Randwick was hit by torrential rain on Silver Eagle day.Credit:Getty
The Gloaming Stakes will be reduced from 1800m to 1600m and shifted to Warwick Farm on Wednesday as Racing NSW reshuffled races. The Gloaming needed to run on Wednesday to give horses nine days into the Spring Champion Stakes.
Calling off the final four races opened questions about the amount of racing at Randwick during the spring, whether 10-race programs are taking a toll on the tracks and if the tracks are tired after the extraordinary weather this year.
Most trainers didn’t want to comment about the situation, but privately questioned if the meeting should have started earlier to miss the forecast rain or held at another track.
The track deteriorated once the rain arrived at Randwick, which was holding its fourth meeting in five weeks. The only place to be on the track was in front and on the fence, with horses unable to make ground from back in the field to win.
Jockeys went to stewards with their concerns after the fifth race, but agreed to try and stay off the fence towards the fresh ground in the centre of the track for the Tapp-Craig. It was a directive that stewards told punters, which had not been done before.
Once the race was run, it was obvious only one decision could be made. The jockeys returning from the Tapp-Craig were less than flattering for the track.
“It’s not racing out there,” Tommy Berry said after riding Ringmaster. “It was all right to start with but just worse with every race.”
Racing NSW chief steward Marc Van Gestel was left with no decision other than to call off the final four races.
“We tried to get the riders to position off the rail and get some better footing,” Van Gestel said.
“But the riders – who were three, four, five [horses] off the rail – expressed concern about not only visibility but footing. When you have the combination of those two [factors], it’s difficult to continue [the meeting].”
Van Gestel said Racing NSW and the club had considered on Friday moving the meeting to avoid the rain, but decided to stick to the schedule after an encouraging forecast.
It was little consolation for trainers and owners, who came back coughing and fatigued from ploughing through the heaviest of tracks.
The rail was out eight metres and will return to the true position for Everest day. The club will be hoping for better weather this week to get the track back into the slow range.
