The abandonment of the country’s biggest spring race meeting at Hastings on Saturday was a case of groundhog day.
The New Zealand thoroughbred racing industry is counting the millions lost from what is now an all too familiar sight — the abandonment of yet another race meeting. Light rain that fell on the Hawke’s Bay course caused a slippery patch just past the winning post, which left officials with no choice but to abandon Saturday’s Livimol Classic meeting in the interests of safety.
Track inspections after riders saw Bostonian, with jockey Mark Du Plessis aboard, slipping after running a close placing behind Hard Merchandize in race 6, the Hawkes Bay Guineas, resulted in the jockeys’ room losing confidence in the racing surface.
After their own assessment of the track and a long consultation period, stewards agreed with that assessment and called off the meeting, but not before New Zealand served up a dose of embarrassment beamed to millions of Australian viewers.
Australian viewers eager to watch leading Caulfield Cup contender Gingernuts in his key lead-up race to this month’s $A3 million ($NZ3.3 million) feature were not greeted with the familiar sight of the striking chestnut galloper on the Hasting track, but instead a tractor towing a groundhog machine.
The aerating machine was applied to the track to try to remedy the situation, but its impact was not enough to save the race day.
It was the second time the machine had been applied. It was used before the start of the meeting as light rain fell.
"The track had been groundhogged at the start of the day after some light rain this morning. However, as the day progressed the horses cut into the surface and were down to a firmer part of the track again," chief stipendiary steward John Oatham said.
"We reinspected it again with the riders but it was clear there was a not a lot of confidence that they could ride competitively into that bend.
"Accordingly, in the interests of safety for both horse and rider, we didn’t believe we had any other option but to abandon the meeting."
"It is bitterly disappointing for everyone concerned but safety must come first."
A decision on when the abandoned part of Saturday’s programme will be rescheduled will be reached this week.
Whatever date is decided, it will not help Gingernuts’ Caulfield Cup campaign which has also been abandoned.
Trainers Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards have ruled out their leading contender for the race and will now plot a new Australian campaign that is likely to see the horse running in the Emirates Stakes — formerly the Mackinnon Stakes — on Victorian Derby Day.
— Jonny Turner, additional reporting NZ Racing Desk
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Comments
A couple of quick comments. 1) how much water did they put on the track in the days leading up to race day? 2) when you have the time Jonny you might like to research the reality of losing race days to weather and the modern practice of clubs watering tracks in the lead up to any meeting. I think the (Head Office direction) of needed tracks @G3 on race day is wrong and very much behind lots of these meetings being 'lost'. Only mugs bet on the many over watered tracks that so many clubs now deliver! and there are fewer and fewer mugs to be found nowadays!
