“I wouldn’t have raced”: Professional punters surprised at Randwick’s decision after 200+mm of rain
Racing New South Wales stewards have made the decision to push on with Day 1 of The Championships on a Heavy 10 surface at Randwick, much to the disappointment of some punters.
Stewards made the decision at 7:45am on race morning to proceed, despite more than 200mm of rain falling in the past 24 hours.
Multiple trainers shared footage of wading through surface water on the Randwick circuit in the early hours of Saturday morning.
— Peter Moody (@moodyracingpgm) April 5, 2024
Numerous Group 1 stars have subsequently been scratched from the program, including Derby favourite Zardozi and Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot.
Former jockey and SENTrack captain David Taggart believes stewards have pulled the wrong reign.
“They’re going to lose a lot on the turnover. I’m not willing to bet on it,” he said on The Odds Couple.
“What’s the point of pushing on if they’re going to call it off after a few races.”
SENTrack regular Chris Nelson says he would have pushed the race day back to a later date. He also won’t be betting his usual stakes on Saturday.
"I'm not willing to bet at the meeting."@CaptainTaggs and @qldtrials have questioned the decision to proceed with the meeting at Randwick today. pic.twitter.com/OfQlSFt05M
— SENTrack (@SEN_track) April 5, 2024
“I’m surprised, I’m surprised we’re racing at Randwick,” he said
“Personally, I wouldn’t have raced. That’s my opinion.
“I would have done that (pushed it back) because you’re taking a lot of gloss off it, it could be bottomless, you’ve lost a lot of god horses… I thought they would have put it back.”
Race 1 will jump at 12:25pm AEDT on a day when Randwick will play host to four Group 1 races.