Rotorua wash- out poses rescheduling headache
Rotorua Racing Club officials and members of the Racing Integrity Unit inspected a rain soaked track yesterday morning and ruled it impossible to be fit for racing today. Surface water covered the track.
The meeting was to have featured the group three Campbell Infrastructure Rotorua Cup ( 2200m) and the group three ISCL Rotorua Stakes ( 1400m).
Te Awamutu’s meeting yesterday has been transferred to Monday. The fields remain unchanged and scratchings have been re- instated. New race times and full fields are available on www. nzracing. co. nz
Rotorua’s case was more problematical. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing executive Tim Aldridge said much ground was required to be covered before a decision was made as to the future of the meeting.
“The two major issues are whether to reschedule the meeting to Friday in the coming week or Sunday, nine days away or whether to pull the meeting apart and run some races at other tracks with meetings approaching.
“You have to confer with the NZ Trainers’ representatives and we had delays in contacting a couple. Then there is track availability, caterers . . . a hundred things.”
Transferring Te Awamutu from yesterday to Monday has a negligible financial downturn, but Rotorua’s case, coming off a prime Saturday spot, is much more significant.
You cannot accurately predict what turnover downturn going from Saturday to a Friday would create, but a guess might be in the range of 25 per cent to 30 per cent.
The Racing Board has assessed the financial damage to the industry from losing a handful of meeting in the first three months of the year at between $ 2m and $ 3m. And winter is on racing’s doorstep. New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing was last night still deciding the future of the cancelled Rotorua Cup meeting. The decision- making meeting in Wellington was ongoing when the Herald reached deadline. Highly promising Cambridge galloper Andando is on track for a trip to Trentham. Andando is a last- start runner- up to De Niro at Hastings after a hat- trick of wins and trainer Stephen Marsh is keen to lift his sights slightly with the four- year- old. “He’ll go down to Trentham on the 27th ( May) for the rating 85 race,” Marsh said, referring to the $ 50,000 Hanley Formula Autumn Sprint Championship Final ( 1200m). Meanwhile, unbeaten stablemate Amastar will head to Te Rapa on Saturday week for a threeyear- old 1200m race. Hamilton apprentice Ryan Elliot is itching to get back into the saddle after an enforced layoff. Elliot, 18, was suspended for excessive whip use but returns to riding at Riccarton next Friday before taking rides at Te Rapa next Saturday, among them the Listed winner Ichiban, then flies to Riverton to ride the following day. Elliot is in fourth place on the national apprentices’ premiership behind Sam Weatherley, Shaun McKay and Gosen Jogoo.