COLOUNDRA CUP QUANDARY

By Graham Potter | Friday, June 26, 2009

Sunshine Coast Turf Club’s showpiece meeting looks likely to take a major hit from the adverse weather conditions which have been in play in recent times.

Chief Steward Wade Birch already has the track rated as a Heavy 10 for the Coloundra Cup meeting. The weather forecast is for ‘numerous showers’, both overnight and on Saturday - which basically suggests the underfoot conditions will get worse before they get better.

Loosely translated, that means the running of all or at least some of the eight races scheduled to take place on the grass, could be in danger of not being able to be completed.

Under normal circumstance, with a track rating of 10 and a poor weather forecast waiting in the wings, the entire meeting would naturally be transferred to the Cushion Track at an early stage of proceedings. Normally, delaying that decision would be just posturing to the inevitable - which is what authorities might be doing now!

But that is quite understandable. This is not a normal meeting. It is the region’s signature meeting and Queensland Racing Ltd (QRL) – along with many other participants - is hoping a touch of good fortune might save the day. Whatever the outcome, QRL is particularly keen for its procedure for handling such situations to be clearly understood. To this end, it has issued a Press Release.

The key points highlighted in the Press Release are: ‘The eight races scheduled on the course proper will proceed on this surface unless safety concerns prohibit these races from continuing. Should at any stage throughout the meeting safety concerns necessitate that racing cannot proceed on the course proper, QRL will transfer the balance of the meeting to the Cushion Track. Should any race be transferred to the Cushion Track the following will apply: QRL will invoke the advertised balloting conditions for each race to reduce the field sizes to the Cushion Track safety limits. Connections of all runners will be afforded the opportunity to scratch their horses should they not wish to compete on the Cushion Track.’

The option of postponing the three feature races in the worst case scenario, suggested in an HRO article earlier this week, more in hope than anticipation, is not being considered.

There will undoubtedly be several scratchings either way - whether the races scheduled for grass take place on a heavy turf surface or the Cushion Track and the meeting, unfortunately, will be all the lesser for it - particularly as either the wet conditions or the controversial Cushion Track surface could further dampen punters’ enthusiasm.

For those hoping for eight races to be completed on the grass, don’t hold your breath. This is increasingly looking like Cushion Track territory!

The onus is now on the players to make the best of a far from ideal situation.