While racecourses in Britain and Ireland battle the elements to keep racing going during the cold snap, officials Down Under have been dealing with a more unusual threat to the action on the track after it emerged that the Gold Coast meeting has been relocated to the Sunshine Coast after a 500-metre section of the track was found damaged on Friday.
Racing Queensland officials have sent samples for urgent testing to identify the cause and have not ruled out the possibility of foul play by anti-racing campaigners.
“Racing Queensland and the Gold Coast Turf Club are concerned about what has happened. We will continue to investigate, including sending samples to the laboratory to see what caused it,” Racing Queensland chief executive Jason Scott told racenet.com.au.
The Magic Millions carnival is one of the most eagerly-anticipated meetings in Australia and the hope is that the track will be fit for purpose in time for the meeting next week.
Two senior jockeys are understood to have galloped on the Gold Coast course proper on Friday afternoon, with the Queensland Jockeys Association saying they “weren't 100 per cent happy” with the damaged section.
“The advice from turf experts was that next Saturday's Magic Millions meeting will be fine to proceed,” Scott said. “They believe the track will be able to be fixed up.”
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