All is not lost for connections of horses who missed out on a start at the abandoned Riverton meeting yesterday - the meeting will now be held at Wingatui tomorrow.
The second day of the Riverton Easter carnival was abandoned after 6.5mm of rain overnight on the good (2) surface had caused concerns among officials and riders, Racing Integrity Unit stipendiary steward Mark Davidson said.
''It appeared OK, but you can never be guaranteed, so the decision was made to get a senior rider to gallop a horse.
''He galloped from the 1000m, and [slipped] once at the 800m and again at the 400m. He eased it down the straight and then put some pressure on [the horse] on the bend going out of the straight towards the crossing, and it slipped badly, fell and dislodged the rider.
''So it was a no-brainer.''
The club and stewards had tried to encourage the overnight rain deeper into the surface by using discs to open up the track on the corners, but the extreme dry period over the last six weeks had taken its toll.
"We ran the discs around just to try and get the water down into the ground,'' Davidson said.
''But being so dry here, the water has only got down a couple of inches then it hits a hard pan.''
Gallop South chief executive Malcolm Little said race conditions for the meeting tomorrow, run under the Riverton Racing Club's banner, would be largely the same. The only distance change will be for the three races originally to be run over 2147m, which will now be over 2200m.
Little said the club had rescheduled the meeting to ensure owners, trainers and jockeys would still get their chances at the prize.
''They are doing this purely for the stakeholders, as it gives them the opportunity to let the horses race. There is likely to be a loss for [the club],'' he said.
''Otago [Racing Club] have come to the party as well by giving them a reduced rental.''
Little said Wingatui track manager Wayne Stevens had no concerns about the track now having two meetings in seven days.
''He is confident it won't do his track any harm for the meeting next Tuesday.''
All horses scratched for Monday's meeting have been reinstated, and there will be no scratching penalties for any horses which do not start tomorrow.
The placement of the Riverton club's meeting into tomorrow's racing schedule was made easier by the abandonment last Friday of the thoroughbred meeting at Woodville which was due to be held tomorrow.
