Stradbroke time back to the 1970s
Doomben’s Stradbroke Hcp meeting will step back into the 1970s, with the main event to be run as race five due to concerns about heavy rain before or on Saturday.
The May 26 meeting at the track was delayed for 90 minutes when the rail had to be moved after a rough patch developed during the wet.
While only 6mm of precipitation is forecast before the weekend, Brisbane’s weather is notoriously fickle and the Brisbane Racing Club and stewards wanted to ensure the Stradbroke Hcp was run on the best possible surface.
The meeting had already been reduced from nine to eight races with the Listed Daybreak Lover Stakes shifted to Caloundra on Sunday.
The Stradbroke Hcp will be run at the earlier time of 2.15pm and followed by the Group One J J Atkins Stakes as race six (2.55pm) and Group One Queensland Derby as race seven (3.35pm).
The Stradbroke was race eight (3.40pm) last year when Impending won it.
In an unusual move the Stradbroke is now the first leg of the quadrella.
However until the 1980s the main race on Group One days was almost always run mid afternoon to cater for newspaper deadlines and allow television replays.