Rain and strong winds out to spoil Eagle Farm’s return to racing

IT’S been almost two years in the making and Eagle Farm will finally host a race meeting this Saturday with the Group 1 Queensland Oaks the highlight, but a horrendous weather forecast is expected which could put a big damper on the day.

Officials are not budging and will give the meeting every chance to go ahead, but plans have been made in case the heavy rain and strong winds put an end to the day.

A crowd of up to 20,000 has been predicted on course and if the projected 40-80mm of rain comes on Saturday, expect the numbers to be very disappointing.

Brisbane Racing Club chief executive Dave Whimpey admitted that he was anxious about the weather, but said it “will take a big call to stop it” going ahead.

“At this stage it’s not going to change the day and we’re going to open the batting,” Whimpey said.

“We do have some contingency plans and we have been in discussion with Racing Queensland and Glen Prentice and the Jockeys Association.”

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There are concerns about jockey safety which is where the Jockeys Association comes into action, but they will be taking it race-by-race and assess conditions with the jockeys.

“We want to make sure the jockeys are safe. If they feel visibility is OK, we will continue. It’s just going to be a race-by-race proposition,” Whimpey said.

“We are heartened by the fact we have a track that is meant to drain at 100mm per hour. That’s yet to be tested with the level of rain predicted, but previous inspections after rain have been encouraging.

“How the rain falls and what that does to visibility will have a big bearing.”

Chief steward Allan Reardon said they would gallop a horse on the course proper on Saturday morning and he also believes the meeting will go ahead.

“The plan is to race,” Reardon said. “That’s what the track is made for. It’s brand new track and it’s there to be used.

“The issue we might have, if the forecast is correct, is visibility. We will monitor that through the day.”

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There were a few trials held at Eagle Farm and there were a few clods being thrown up. Reardon walked the track on Wednesday and said it was perfect, even a “bit firm in places” because staff had held back on watering this week because of the forecast.

“We see this every time there’s predictions of bad weather a couple of days out from the races,” UBET’s Gerard Duffy said.

“People would prefer to wait and see what the weather is doing and assess the track condition.

“If we compare betting on this meeting compared to the past couple of weeks at Doomben, it’s down about 50 per cent. That will change if the prediction prove to be wrong, but at the moment people are very wary.”

There haven’t been many market movers at Sportsbet.com.au which typically means punters are holding off until Saturday.

We suggest keeping an eye on the forecast and bet on the early races which are hopefully not affected by the weather. Sportsbet is giving a $50 cash back on runners that place in the first four races, so sign up and get involved.

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