Matamata is set to host the Gr.1 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) for the second time in three years after a slippery track forced the abandonment of Saturday’s blockbuster race meeting at Hastings.
The second day of the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival had promised so much, with quality fields set to compete under blue skies. But a short burst of rain late on Friday afternoon created a slippery layer on the surface of the track, which was rated Good4 on Friday and Soft5 on Saturday morning.
The effects of that moisture were easy to see in the opening race on the card, the MacTaggart Family Gratitude Stakes (2100m). The Kevin Myers-trained Just Charlie clearly slipped, free of any interference, while rounding the turn out of the home straight.
The meeting was initially put back by one race while a Verti-Drain was deployed to that section of the track, but a delegation of jockeys and trainers were still not confident that the track would be safe for racing and the meeting was abandoned.
“The Hastings track had a full renovation earlier in the year and was in absolutely beautiful condition for the first day of the carnival, so this has probably come out of the blue a little bit,” New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s chief operating officer Darin Balcombe said.
“From what we can see, there was 1mm to 3mm of rain yesterday afternoon, which is probably the worst thing that could have happened, and it’s obviously just formed a bit of a slippery layer on top. We can’t say for sure until we have a full review of what’s happened, but that appears to be what the issue is.
“It’s a situation we desperately need to avoid. It’s very frustrating and we’ve got to make sure that things like this don’t happen.
“The track manager here, Bryce Mildon, is a very good operator and this issue has really come out of left field.
“What we’re going to need to do now is thoroughly test the track and see whether the possibility of being back here for the last day of the carnival in two weeks is a reality.”
In the meantime, the remainder of Saturday’s abandoned meeting has been rescheduled to be run at Matamata on Wednesday. That includes the Arrowfield Stud Plate and the Gr.2 AHD Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m). Both of those feature races were also relocated to Matamata in 2022, when severe weather forced a complete washout of the Arrowfield meeting originally scheduled for Hastings.
“We looked at the possibility of coming back on Sunday and rescheduling the Woodville meeting, but at this stage we wouldn’t be comfortable that we could turn the track around, make sure it’s safe and get that testing in before sending the riders back out there,” Balcombe said.
“We also looked at staging the meeting at Hastings on Tuesday, but horses going back home to the north and then coming all the way back again, it wouldn’t be a possibility to do that.”
New nominations will be required for all of Wednesday’s races aside from the Arrowfield, which was an early-entry race. Preference will be given to horses that were originally accepted for the Hawke’s Bay meeting. Nominations for this new meeting will close on Monday at 9am, with withdrawals closing at midday the same day.
The Cambridge meeting which was scheduled for Wednesday will now run on Thursday. Nominations remain open for this meeting until 9am Monday. The Matamata meeting scheduled for next Saturday will now be run at Tauranga.
