STEWARDS have sensationally forced today's Furphy's Publicans Day race meeting at Stony Creek, on Sunday, February 9, to be abandoned before a race could be run.
According to CEO of the Stony Creek Racing Club, Jason Benbow, stewards inspected the track at 11.30am this morning and ultimately declared the racing surface "unsafe" with the meeting officially abandoned at 12.24pm ahead of the first scheduled race at 1.35pm.
“Unfortunately, our meeting has been abandoned at 12.24pm today due to inconsistencies in the track,” said Mr Benbow.
“The stewards believe that with the 8ml of rain that we've had overnight, that's caused the track to be a little bit inconsistent in some spots.
“So, in their opinion, they thought it went from a Good 3 to Heavy 8 in some parts.
“Naturally, we're a bit disappointed with that result, but safety is paramount, and ultimately, they're making a decision that they believe is in the best interests of both the thoroughbred and the jockeys, which is that safety is paramount.
“So, we have no issues with that regard. But naturally, we're disappointed. We've got everyone starting to arrive and set up for this to be our second meeting in-a-row with similar circumstances.
“It's quite frustrating, but we'll bounce back. Our cup day’s on the 9th of March, so hopefully everyone can rally around Stony Creek and get behind us and bring us home a winner.”
Mr Benbow said there would be a full investigation of the events leading up to the abandonment of the meeting.
In light of the lost meeting, Racing Victoria’s Racing Operations will announce any changes to the upcoming programs on Monday.
Sunday’s abandonment at Stony Creek follows the complete loss of the race meeting on Sunday, January 12 due to lightning in the area.
The loss of two meetings in a five-meeting season will no doubt have an adverse impact on the club's finances.
Barring the replacement of today's meeting, the next race meeting at Stony Creek will be the Ladbroke's Stony Creek Cup on Sunday, March 9.
The previous week, RV stewards abandoned the Benalla meeting after just two races due to soft patches in the track.
