Rain forces racing schedule changes

RAIN forced the meeting scheduled for the Vaal Racecourse yesterday to be abandoned – and tomorrow’s Turffontein meeting to be moved to Sunday.

There has been heavy and continuous rain throughout the week on the Highveld and the decision to scrap the Vaal fixture followed a track inspection and gallops yesterday morning. The inspection committee was of the opinion that the track was soft and inconsistent.

This is the third race meeting to have been cancelled this week, with Monday’s Kimberley card and Tuesday’s Vaal card also falling victim to the weather.

Tomorrow’s Turffontein Standside track meeting will be moved to Sunday, as a “Twilight” meeting starting at 3pm.

The last race is scheduled to go off at 7.40pm.

“Unfortunately, the weather is not something we can control,” said Rob Scott, Betting Executive at Phumelela.

“We can, however, control our racing schedule, and we have therefore made the change in an attempt to ensure that the Turffontein meeting goes ahead.

“By rescheduling it to a twilight meeting on Sunday we are giving the Turffontein track as much time as possibly to dry out sufficiently to ensure that racing takes place on a safe surface.

“It also gives trainers, jockeys, the racing public and other stakeholders ample time to plan.”

An additional race meeting is now also scheduled for Wednesday, February 20, at Turffontein.

Racegoers should also note that there is a Carryover of around R28 000 on the Quartet on the last race at Sunday’s Turffontein meeting. The estimated pool is R400 000. Other carryovers include: Kenilworth, Saturday 16 February, Pick 6 carryover of R350 000, with an estimated pool of R2 million;

Scottsville, Sunday February 17, Six carryover of R200 000 with an estimate pool of R1.7 million.

Turffontein, Wednesday February 20, Pick 6 carryover of R100 000 with an estimated pool of R1.5 million.

Following the disruption to racing it has been decided to add an additional meeting to the schedule. This meeting will take place next Wednesday, February 20, on the Turffontein Standside track.

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