Early start for Standish Day at Flemington
Racing Victoria have made the call to bring forward the starting time at Flemington this Saturday due to the predicted hot weather.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting the mercury to rise to 38 degrees in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, so the call was made on Wednesday morning to bring the forward the start time to 10:30am from the original start time of 12:33pm.
The gaps between races have been reduced from 35 minutes to 30 minutes, along with the horses on-course arrival time also.
“The required arrival time on-course for horses has also been reduced from two hours to one hour prior to their race and an additional veterinarian will be on-course to help monitor the condition of horses,” a Racing Victoria release read.
“Misting fans and buckets of ice water will be located throughout the stables and horse movement areas, with people in the mounting yard to hose down horses pre and post-race as required. Free Water bottles will also be plentiful for staff and participants.
“With acceptances for Victoria’s two other race meetings this Saturday, bet365 Park Kilmore and Woolamai, not closing until tomorrow morning, RV will review the forecast temperature for each over the next 24 hours before determining their race times.”
With the early start to racing and the shortened time between races, the nine-race card, highlighted by the Group 3 Standish Handicap, will start at 10:30am AEDT and conclude at 2:53pm AEDT.