Big Vaal race postponed

Jack Milner

The World Sports Betting Grand Heritage race due to be run at the Vaal Racecourse on Saturday has been rescheduled for Saturday, October 13.

As the result of a few unseasonably cold mornings, the Vaal track has experienced frost and the course is not in an ideal condition on which to race.

Three leading jockeys and their mounts took to the track yesterday morning to test the condition of the course and after lengthy discussions with a number of track experts and other interested parties, the decision was taken to delay the running of the race.

Speaking on Tellytrack, Phumelela Racing Operations executive Clyde Basel said: “It was felt that the track is close but not quite there yet.

“So, to avoid any possibility of problems arising after a few races had been run on Saturday, we have decided to postpone.

“I am disappointed. I was looking forward to Saturday’s meeting but we would not like the meeting to get stopped after race four because some of the jockeys were unhappy with the state of the track.

“The track is very close to being ready, but it is just not where it needs to be.”

Other than the Grand Heritage and the Consolation race, the balance of the meeting will now be run on the Turffontein inside track on Saturday.

The reason the World Sports Betting Grand Heritage and the Heritage Consolation Handicap cannot be raced at another track is that they are the only races in the country that contain 28 runners. No other racecourse in the country is able to accommodate a field of that size.