Queensland Oaks meeting called off

The Brisbane Race Club has reallocated the feature races from the washed out Oaks day meeting at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

The meeting was abandoned at 9am after more than 70mm of rain hit the newly laid track in a period of five hours.

Chief steward Alan Reardon said the track had been ready to race when inspected after first light but further rain had made it impossible to go ahead.

“We worked two horses on it at 6.30am and the track was safe. But when we looked at 9am there were divots with rain filling them up.”

“The forecast was for even more rain and it was not an option to go ahead.

“The track was solid but we also had to think about the ambulance because the dirt was out of action because of the rain,” Reardon said.

“The ambulance would have had to go on the A grass and that is no option either as it would have torn up the surface.”

Another problem was several jockeys had interstate or international commitments on Sunday which would have made switching the meeting a problem.

WilliamHill.com.au

The Group One Queensland Oaks and the Group Two QTC Cup will be transferred to the Stradbroke Handicap meeting on Saturday June 11 at Eagle Farm.

The Listed Lightning Hcp will be run at Doomben on Wednesday.

BRC racing manager Bart Sinclair said the fields would stand, with scratching reinstated for the Oaks and Lightning Stakes, but fresh nominations would be called for in the QTC Cup, which would replace the Hinkler Stakes on Stradbroke Saturday.

He said unfortunately the Eagle Farm Cup, Daybreak Lover Stakes and Phoenix Stakes set down for Saturday had been abandoned.

There will now be four Group One, four Group Two and two Listed races run on Stradbroke day, starting at about 11am.

The Spear Chief Stakes will be moved to Tatts Tiara day on June 25.

The Eagle Farm meeting was to be the first since a 22-month break which saw the track undergo major redevelopment.

The return to Eagle Farm was being used to celebrate the 150th anniversary of racing at the venue.

Ironically, that meeting, held more than a century ago was also washed out.

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