THE EAGLE FARM OPENING AND THE QUESTION OF WHETHER THE WEATHER GODS WILL BE KIND, OR NOT?

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, May 31, 2016

For several years prior to the closure of Eagle Farm for the creation of a new track, Brisbane racing played ‘Russian Roulette’ with the weather .

Thankfully they managed to safely negotiate their way through a series of Winter Carnivals in which adverse weather could have had dire consequences given the poor shape the old track was in with regard to coping with excessive rainfall.

It would be ironic then, unkind and even in a sense unfair if, having survived for all of those years, weather becomes a disruptive force on the day Eagle Farm is due to showcase its new track to true, competitive action ... with all of the associated fanfare ... for the very first time.

That is the possible showdown that is looming for Oaks Day at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

It is a scenario that nobody wants.

It is a matter that is out of everybody’s hands.

The current weather forecast for Brisbane predicts ‘POSSIBLE’ rainfall of 2mm to 8mm on Thursday, 3mm to 10mm on Friday and 15mm to 30mm on Saturday (raceday).

If you add up the low estimate over the three days you have 20mm. The accumulative high figure is 48mm ... given a total suggested POSSIBLE range of between 20mm to 48mm.

Underline POSSIBLE.

The bureau likes to cover its bets. They have been wrong before but, for all that, the warning is there and with the warning comes genuine concern for ability of the new track to hold up throughout the day if it does get a soaking.

Track Manager Sean Bridges was rueing the approaching weather.

“Unfortunately this bloody weather forecast is pretty ordinary ... a ninety per cent chance of between 20mm and 40mm,” said Bridges, when speaking to racing.com.

“That’s a bit of a bugger but you can’t do much about the weather. You can’t control it so you just move on and do your best."

The good news is that, far removed from the previous situation, the new track’s drainage system is expected to be a big positive.

As Bridges explained, “it has met certain KPI’s regarding how the track will handle water. It can handle up to 150mm per hour, but it really is all about how much you get, when you get it and the intensity of it.”

The bad news is the worry about the actual racing surface itself.

“Our concern is that it is a very young surface,” said Bridges. “It is still maturing and knitting together. So, when you throw complication like rain into the picture early on you are concerned that it may chop out.

And, in terms of backing up the following week with the Stradbroke?

“The benefit of this track is it is 28m wide so you have got plenty of things you can do with the rail,” said Bridges.

“The rail will be true for this Saturday and then we will go out three or four metres next Saturday. We usually run the Stradbroke at 3 metres.

“I’ll wait and see what the damage is but it will probably go out to the three or four metre mark for the Stradbroke,” concluded Bridges.

It’s been 653 days since Eagle Farm last hosted a race meeting.

There is not one person who doesn’t want the Eagle Farm relaunch to be a success but, in the end, on day one at least, that might all be up to the weather gods, and what type of mood they are in.