A second race meet in as many weeks has been moved from Towac Park due to a bone-dry track, with Racing Orange's December 30 meeting set to be moved to Dubbo.
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The move was announced by Racing NSW on Twitter.
"The race meeting scheduled for Monday December 30 has been transferred to Dubbo due to the effects of the weather on the Orange Racecourse," it said.
All races will stay the same with the exception of the 2100 Benchmarch 66 Handicap, which will extend from 2100 metres to 2200.
The move came the day after the December 16 meet, which was originally supposed to be held in Orange but moved to Bathurst last week.
Racing Orange executive director Bree McMinn said it was "obviously really disappointing" to have to move the meeting but was making sure the best decision was made.
"We didn't want to put horses on the track," she said.
Towac Park's dam is empty, and the racecourse doesn't have access to a bore, so the track isn't in a position to host races until the skies open and bring some relief.
McMinn said the track's condition simply came down to a lack of water, with hardly any rain falling in Orange in the past few months.
"It's as dry on the track as it is everywhere else," McMinn said.
The track's condition is potentially putting the six remaining events at Towac Park at risk of being moved, and McMinn said Racing Orange was keeping a close eye on the forecast with an eye to the January 7 meet.
She said she was "optimistic" there'd be enough rain before then, but with no rainfall on the long-term forecast until the December 30 meeting - and scorching days in the lead-up - they had no choice but to move the meeting.
A decision on that meeting will be made closer to the date.
Meanwhile, there will be no greyhound racing at Dawson Park in Dubbo on Friday as the expected high temperatures have forced the meeting to be abandoned.
Temperatures are expected to reach as high as 43 degrees on Friday, posing a risk to the health and welfare of animal and human alike.
The decision was made after consultation between the Dubbo club and the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission.
Racing is next scheduled for the Dubbo track on December 27.
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