AFTER loss of two local race meetings in as many weeks, the Coonamble Jockey Club have put their hand up to host a ‘Rescue Meeting’ for horses that were due to race in flood-stricken Moree this weekend.
The Coonamble Gold Cup was cancelled less than 24 hours before the gates opened, due to a rogue thunderstorm making a small section of the track too slippery to race.
The Gold Cup was then transferred to Dubbo to race last Wednesday 19 October and the Country Picnic Racing Championships final was set to be run along with the Coonabarabran Cup on Sunday 23 October.
However the Coonabarabran track then fell foul of the weather and, in an effort to keep horses racing, the Coonabarabran Cup was transferred to Coonamble for Sunday 23 October.
Again, a rain event on Saturday night stymied those plans and the Coonabarabran Cup was cancelled on Sunday morning.
On Monday 24 October Coonamble Jockey Club President Ken Waterford and his committee were approached by officials from Country Racing NSW with a request to host a ‘Rescue Meeting’ for the huge field of nominations set for Moree this Friday 28 October.
“Racing NSW have lost so many race meetings this year including picnic races,” Mr Waterford said.
“Basically there’s all these horses in training and they just need to be raced.”
As well as transferring the Moree meeting to Coonamble, NSW Racing have stepped in to schedule to additional race meeting – one in the Northern Tablelands and on in the Southern Districts – in order to accommodate more horses, jockeys and trainers as the peak spring racing season gets underway.
The Rescue Meeting in Coonamble will be a TAB 1 event and a second Emergency Meeting will be staged in either Inverell or Armidale to cater for horses in the northern region separated from the Coonamble meeting by closed roads due to flooding.
The Country Picnic Racing Championship final, which has to run on a weekend, will be transferred to Dubbo this Saturday.
Nominations for the Moree races in Coonamble were re-opened and, as of 8am Tuesday, 179 had been received with two hours to go before nominations close.
“We’ve had 33 horses nominated for one race and we can only race 14,” Mr Waterford said. “They just want to race, they’re all in training and can’t get a run.”
While the local volunteers may be weary, they do recognise the importance of supporting the trainers, jockeys and other stakeholders within the racing industry.
Their workforce will be bolstered by some staff from Sydney, a race secretary from Narromine and Head Curator for NSW Racing, David Hodgson, who will arrive on Thursday to help the Jockey Club with the event.
“If there’s no more rain they reckon the track will be a soft seven by Friday, which is terrific for our current weather conditions,” Mr Waterford said.
“Dave is very good and a great supporter of the Coonamble club.”
Prizemoney of $230,000 is on offer and the Club have rallied with the help of TP Catering with their food and coffee van, Coonamble Bears Rugby League Club barbeque and the Club will run a bar on the day
“You wouldn’t get a wetter time and so many committees have worked hard for months only to have their events cancelled,” Mr Waterford said.
“We’re very fortunate to have great backing from our community and it’s a great volunteer committee who can keep standing up and putting this on.”