Sprinkler washes out Omakau meeting

The Central Otago Racing Club is hoping to avert disaster with the rescheduling of yesterday’s cancelled Omakau races.

Officials originally called the meeting off early yesterday morning after deciding the Omakau track was not fit for racing.

The meeting will now be held tomorrow.

The racing programme remains the same, but the first race has been moved forward to 12.14pm.

The rescheduling of the meeting was because a wet patch of ground on the home turn of the Omakau track. It had been monitored in the lead up to the meeting but had not dried sufficiently to be safe for racing.

Central Otago Racing Club president Tony Lepper confirmed the wet patch was caused when a timer on the course’s irrigation system malfunctioned.

“It was a sprinkler system that we had a timer on and something malfunctioned on that. It had gone perfectly every morning for three months and then it malfunctioned two days before the races.”

The postponement of the races would have a financial impact on the club as well as horse owners, trainers and jockeys.

The meeting was able to be rescheduled with the help of the TAB and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing.

“We are obviously very upset by what happened but we are glad they found a slot and we just hope everyone turns up on Friday,” Lepper said.

Had yesterday’s meeting not been rescheduled it would have meant a disastrous start to the year for the South Island thoroughbred racing industry; $108,000 in prize money was up for grabs on yesterday’s nine race programme.

On New Year’s Day trainers and jockeys were sent packing after the Waikouaiti races were abandoned.

After only one race had been run the Waikouaiti track was deemed unsafe for racing.

The Omakau club is hopeful the meeting will still be well supported by the public and have made it more attractive for people to attend by abolishing their normal entry fees.

The meeting will rely on the support of owners and trainers still wanting to race their horses at Omakau.

A mass withdrawal of horses would have a big negative impact on the club’s bottom line.