Matamata races abandoned as bad run continues

Heavy rain in the Waikato region forced the abandonment of the Matamata races yesterday.

The meeting was called off before a race was run after persistent and heavy rain resulted in a deterioration of the Matamata track since the 7.30am scratching time.

After 20mm overnight the forecast for the remainder of the day was poor with rain continuing to fall.

The RIU together with trainer and jockey representatives and club officials inspected the track around 11am before the decision was made.

Matamata trainer Stephen Autridge was part of the inspection team and agreed the correct call had been made.

‘‘We’ve had over 20mm since scratching time and it’s pouring down still,’’ he said. ‘‘We might have got away with one race but the horses would have gone into the ground and we wouldn’t have been able to continue after that.’’

Visibility issues for jockeys was the main cause for concern.

NZTR will look to add a race or races to the upcoming meetings at Waipa and Counties on April 5 and April 9.

There has been an unrelenting run of recent abandonments. Te Aroha’s St Patrick’s Day meeting was abandoned two weeks ago.

The previous Saturday’s Auckland Cup meeting had to be postponed until Thursday because of the Tasman tempest weather system that dumped more than 200mm of rain on the Ellerslie surface.

The same week a Manukau greyhound meeting was also abandoned due to the same weather system.

At the other end of the country the Wyndham gallops meeting was abandoned due to an unsafe track and an Addington greyhound meeting was called off due to a rain affected track.

The three meetings were canned before a race was run.