Dargaville’s race meet canned
Dargaville’s annual race meeting has been cancelled due to adverse track conditions.
Dargaville Racing Club president Tim Antonio says last week New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing venue inspector, Garry Foskett, and stipendiary steward Alan Coles decided the track was unsuitable to race on.
The silver lining however is the cancellation is far enough out from the race meeting - a popular event which draws punters from around Auckland and the wider region - so it will not cause too much disruption to owners, trainers or race goers.
To mitigate the effect the Whangarei Racing Club has picked up the day and will hold races at Ruakaka on November 17.
‘‘The drainage repairs on the track have been successful, but the grass growth inconsistent so it’s a bit light over the repaired section,’’ Antonio says.
‘‘In addition there are other parts of the track that are also too wet and will likely cut up if raced on. It was considered with the current weather conditions the track is unlikely to improve sufficiently to be up to racing standard by race date.’’
The truck and public car parking areas are also extremely wet and could cause additional problems on the day.
‘‘The track will benefit from having the time to come up to full standard,’’ Antonio says.