NZ Cup Day abandoned early
One of the biggest days on the domestic racing calendar, New Zealand Cup Day at Riccarton, was abandoned after race three on Saturday due to safety concerns following a horse slipping while free of interference rounding the home turn.
Harmonious, ridden by Lily Sutherland, clearly slipped on a lush patch of turf as she commenced her run into the race at the 400m mark.
A track examination by stipendiary stewards and a delegation of jockeys saw remedial work undertaken on the affected turf to try alleviate the issue of the excess moisture trapped near the track surface.
Despite extensive efforts the situation did not improve and the decision was taken to abandon the meeting with thousands of people already on course left frustrated by the turn of events.
Leading rider Lisa Allpress was present at the track inspection and admitted she was disappointed to see racing abandoned but felt there was no other alternative.
‘‘On the firm surface underneath, the fact that the grass is quite long and with a little bit of rain overnight, it just hasn’t dried underneath which means that there is an area of the track that is unsafe,’’ she said.
‘‘There is more than just the one slip mark and there are quite a few out there.
‘‘We really tried [to save the meeting] and with daylight saving hours available, we might have been able to put the meeting back, but with the length of the grass and the amount of moisture in it, it just isn’t going to dry out.
‘‘Jockey and horse safety is paramount, but this isn’t a decision made lightly and it is just devastating for everybody.’’
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has advised the remaining nine races on the card, including the Group I New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), Group III New Zealand Cup (3200m) and Group III Lindauer Stewards Stakes (1200m) will be raced at the venue today.