THIRTY minutes of rain at Towac Park was all the Orange racecourse needed on Tuesday to see racing cancelled - again.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After the torrential rain over the weekend, Racing Orange’s TAB meeting on Sunday was cancelled and rescheduled for yesterday due to a waterlogged track.
With the track “drying out pretty well” according to Racing Orange interim chief executive officer Daniel Brincat, the last thing Towac needed was more rain.
Enter mother nature.
Yesterday afternoon’s bucketing registered as much as 23 millimetres of rain, in the city centre, and eradicated any chance of racing in Orange yesterday.
“We only had about half an hour worth as well out here [at Towac Park],” Brincat said
“It just poured, it was torrential, I don’t know how much we got but the storm really knocked us for six, it gave us a huge top up that we didn’t need.”
Brincat said with a bit of work from Towac Park curator Jeff Brasch the track was raceable, albeit in a heavy eight condition.
“The stewards were impressed with how well the track was drying out from Sunday, they were pretty surprised I think,” Brincat explained.
“It had come up really well after a bit of work. The sand track was looking good after a bit of dragging and harrowing. Unfortunately after that downpour the sand track was underwater, and it just became more of a safety issue.”
Brincat said the dual-cancellations were disappointing, but conceded they were unavoidable.
“When you get washed out, it’s very difficult for Racing New South Wales to fit you in with an alternate date,” he said.
“The calender is jam-packed, so it’s pretty rare to get a second chance. And then for it to rain, we just can’t take a trick at the moment.”
With Orange Gold Cup day the next Racing Orange event on the calendar, on Friday, April 11.
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t rain,” Brincat laughed.
