No need to highlight the mudlarks with Eagle Farm’s terrific drainage
ATTENTION punters: Get it out of your heads that you need to back wet-trackers on Doomben 10,000 day.
It seems hard to believe, given parts of southeast Queensland are underwater in the region’s big wet, but the Group 1 day now being run at Eagle Farm will almost certainly be raced in the Soft 5 or Soft 6 range.
Track guru Jim Roberts said the only way the quick-drying and quick-draining surface would get into the heavy range was if there was torrential rain during the running of the races on Saturday.
And that seems highly unlikely given forecasts show the big wet will ease on Saturday, with only up to 10mm of rain predicted for the Brisbane area.
“It’s well known that this track drains incredibly, this is what it was designed to do and that is what it is doing,” Roberts said.
“When it is absolutely driving rain you might get a bit of surface water, but five minutes after the rain has gone, so is the water as it just drains through the (track) profile.
“Our figures are coming up around that Soft 5 to Soft 6 range, it’s definitely not in the heavy range as we have walked it several times.
“The ground is not squelchy, there is no water on the surface.
“Unless it is absolutely driving rain during running of races, there is no chance of it of it getting into the heavy range.
“If the weather improves on Saturday, you will probably see the track improving.”