Southeast Queensland track crisis takes another twist with Gold Coast return pushed back
Queensland is set to be without racing on the Gold Coast for longer than anticipated again after its return was pushed back again.
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The southeast Queensland tracks crisis has taken another twist with the return to racing on the grass at the strife-torn Gold Coast again pushed back to a later date.
Racing was scheduled to return to the grass at the Gold Coast later this month, however the meeting on August 31 has now been moved to the poly as officials wait to see how horses handle it in the coming weeks.
There hasn’t been a race on the grass at the Gold Coast since March when the QTIS Jewel meeting was widely ridiculed as being “not up to scratch”.
It was due to return to racing for the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes and the new $1 million Magic Millions race under lights during the winter carnival, but also lost those meetings.
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On the back of jockeys walking off the job at Eagle Farm due to safety concerns over a construction site on the home turn, Racing Queensland officials made the decision to push back the Gold Coast’s return date, with chief executive Jason Scott saying the coming weeks will prove pivotal.
“We will put some horses over it next week,” he said.
“It has been cold and there has been a few frosts which haven’t helped it there.
“Once we get some horses over it on Wednesday or Thursday next week, we will know where we are at.
“Everything looks outstanding but we will find out more next week.”
The new track, which was ripped up after the 2023 Magic Millions, is the cornerstone to the $63m renovation that has taken place at the Gold Coast Turf Club.
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It has created a tracks crunch in Queensland, with Saturday’s meeting, originally scheduled for Eagle Farm now being run at the Sunshine Coast, forcing their Sunday meeting to be moved to the poly track.
A number of meetings have also been forced to move to Doomben, which is now a talking point due to its workload.
Originally published as Southeast Queensland track crisis takes another twist with Gold Coast return pushed back
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