Australia Day Race Meeting Transferred

Wed, January 25 2012

A decision has been made today (25.1.2012) to transfer the Australia Day races to Saturday 28th January.

Whilst this was not an easy decision to make it is believed that in the interests of all concerned it is the most appropriate course of action. At 8am this morning the Chairman of Stewards, Lindsay Lane advised the Club that he had grave concerns about the meeting being conducted the next day given the prevailing weather conditions and the advertised forecast for the next 24 to 36 hours.

Darwin Turf Club management in conjunction with TRNT management undertook an exhaustive review of the situation and were appraised of the weather forecast for the next 4 days by the Bureau of Meteorology.

It is clear that if a decision was not made today to transfer the meeting there would be a strong possibility that the stewards would abandon the meeting tomorrow (26.1.12) if there was not a significant improvement in the weather. On the evidence available at this time there appears little chance that the weather will improve to the extent that the stewards would consider it safe for racing. Moreover the forecast for Saturday indicated that the wind will have abated substantially and the possibility of heavy rain will have diminished.

“One of the key considerations was to make an early decision rather than be forced into abandoning the meeting at the last minute. By making a decision today it will be far easier for the industry participants and the Clubs patrons to organise themselves and make whatever arrangements they require to be involved in the Saturday race meeting,” explains Chief Executive Officer, Philip Neck.

Those patrons who had bookings for tomorrows races will be contacted by the Club and arrangements will be made so as to minimise their inconvenience. The Club will endeavour by way of radio and TV to advise the public of the transferring of the meeting so as to ensure that there is as little disruption as possible.

The Club is pleased to announce they will be providing free gate admission on Saturday in light of the inconvenience. The waterslide/jumping castle will still be available to entertain the children on course.

As far as the race fields are concerned there will be no alteration to the 6 race program and all fields will remain unchanged other than the race times which will commence from 3pm and will be telecast on SKY Racing 2.

For further information contact:

Pina Sommerville
Marketing & Communications Manager
Mob: 0438 410 098