By ‘Pegs’
SUNDAY’S $200,000 bet365 Kilmore Cup was abandoned due to wet weather and state of the track.
Club officials made the decision to abandon the race at 8.20am following a track inspection by Racing Victoria stewards, with surface water covering the track from overnight rainfall.
The Kilmore track had been rated a heavy 10 as of 6am on Sunday, having received 58mm of rain during the week, including 25 millimetres in the 24 hours prior to the inspection.
“In [the final] 24 hours, we had two significant rain events,” Kilmore Racing Club chief executive Ben Murphy said.
“The last one was probably the one that did us in; at about 2pm we got 10mm pretty rapidly. We thought we’d get maybe eight to 12mm and we’ve ended up closer to 30mm.”
“It’s just a little bit too much with all the other rain that we’ve had over the past few months as well – the ground is just full of moisture.
“I suppose it’s probably a culmination of a number of little things that all added to this, so it’s really disappointing.”
In a post on the Kilmore Racing Club Facebook page, the club announced any patrons who purchased tickets or packages would be refunded.
The post said refunds began yesterday and could take up to five business days due to the amount of refunds being processed.
Mr Murphy said he would discuss the possibility of running the cup at a later date with Racing Victoria officials.
“Saturday, January 14 is probably the only window available. That day is the Northern Health Race Day,” he said.
The club has endured a luckless season, losing its four designated meetings due to inclement weather and state of the track.
Hoofnote: This writer can recall the club spending $25,000 to truck in water to its dam so it could water the course well enough to run its cup meeting in February one year.