With Racing NSW abandoning Saturday's Christmas Twilight Meet due to the extreme heat expected this weekend Dubbo Turf Club is sweating on temperatures dropping the following week, with its new December 30 meeting seemingly in jeopardy as well.
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The meeting was the second moved from Orange's bone-dry Towac Park track in a matter of days and should the rising mercury not fall it may well meet the same fate as Saturday's now-cancelled program, which was called off on Thursday morning.
Those temperatures are expected to drop though, a blessing for Dubbo Turf Club general manager Vince Gordon, who could do no more than label the recent meeting transfers and cancellations unfortunate, albeit necessary, moves.
"It's unfortunate, but that's also life in the bush at the moment," Gordon said.
"That Monday (December 30) is just before New Year, and that should be good now as a bit of a Christmas and New Year event for people looking to celebrate.
"[Abandoning Saturday's meeting] is an excellent call, I've no issue with the decision they've made at all, they've made the decision on welfare grounds and that's incredibly important, not just for the horses, but for the riders as well."
Saturday's meeting joins the two from Orange and one harness racing meet from Bathurst to have been moved or abandoned due to the weather conditions or adverse air conditions.
Gordon did explain this weekend's event has now become a 'phantom meeting'.
The event will still go ahead as planned with all the trapping and off-field celebrations remaining in place, just without the actual races happening in the background.
"We've still have all the same live entertainment and our Fashions on the Field event and the like, so people can still come out and support us," Gordon said, hopeful of still drawing a sizable crowd.
"A big thank you to Chill-Rite and the rest of the businesses who're supporting us and will be coming along, although it's unfortunate that we won't be able to host the races."
Racing NSW made the call on Thursday morning regarding Saturday's meeting, releasing a statement at the earliest possible time to ensure as much notice as possible.
"The Bureau of Meteorology forecast for Dubbo this Saturday has remained consistent this week with a top temperature of 45 degrees predicted," the statement said.
"As a consequence, Racing NSW has determined the race meeting should be abandoned prior to acceptances being declared on welfare grounds."
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