Return to Eagle Farm postponed as Queensland Oaks day called off
RACING Queensland Stewards have made the tough decision to call off the Queensland Oaks meeting at Eagle Farm scheduled for Saturday due to deteriorating weather conditions in Brisbane.
The meeting was set to be the first race day back at Queensland’s premier race track since it was closed in August 2014 to undergo a multi-million dollar upgrade of the racing surface and off-track facilities.
The new surface, which has been installed with an expensive drainage system, is said to be able to handle up to 100mm of rain each hour.
The track was initially passed for racing, however, after 25mm of rain fell on Friday night, another inspection was held at 9am on Saturday morning following constant rain, with more than 60mm having lashed the track within four hours.
The downpour on the fledgling surface, combined with a forecast of possible flash flooding and extreme gusts of wind ultimately forced RQ Stewards to call off the meeting.
A decision on the fate of the meeting is expected to be made on Saturday afternoon, with RQ said to be considering the practicalities of running the meeting on Sunday, with another option being to transfer the races scheduled for Saturday to other meetings.
In total, 35 runners had already been scratched from the program prior to the postponement of the meeting including all seven horses from Godolphin.
Queensland’s premier race, the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap, is still scheduled to be run next Saturday, June 11.