Cancelled meet again

QUEENSLAND’S beleaguered thoroughbred industry was left with another black eye yesterday after the metropolitan meeting scheduled for Ipswich was called off for the second time in a fortnight.

QRIC’s decision was at odds with Ipswich Turf Club. The club felt the track, which had received 36mm of rain since Friday night, was a safe heavy (8) surface, but stewards inspected the track at 7am and deemed the surface unsafe.

A fortnight earlier, stewards ruled the meeting safe to proceed in the morning, but when jockeys arrived, they unanimously deemed it was not safe and racing was called off.

The abandoned meeting has been rescheduled for next Tuesday. Ipswich Turf Club general manager Brett Kitching said there should have been more consultation before the meeting was called off.