Rain deluge misses Gold Coast Turf Club ahead of Magic Millions lead up

Officials are hopeful of racing on a Soft 5 surface come Saturday afternoon after the worst of the storms on Friday missed the turf club.

An aerial shot of the Gold Coast Turf Club. Picture: Gold Coast Bulletin.

Racing is expected to proceed as scheduled at the Gold Coast on Saturday after forecast rain missed the racecourse for the majority of Friday afternoon.

Up to 35mm had been expected to fall in the lead up to Saturday’s The Wave meeting but Gold Coast Turf Club chief executive Steve Lines said the track had remained a Soft 7, with further improvement expected before the first race.

“We have not had the rain as expected so far today, they predicted 10 to 35mm and at best we have had 2mm and they are predicting 1mm in the morning and fine and sunny after that,” he said.

“The original forecast was heavy rain over Thursday and Friday but we haven’t had it, it is all around us. We are hoping to get to a Soft 5.”

Around 110mm has fallen over the past seven days on the track, raising fears it wouldn’t take much to tip the rain-soaked track into the Heavy range.

Racing officials were planning worst-case scenario contingency plans on Thursday should the rain have fallen but they look set to have escaped.

Originally published as Rain deluge misses Gold Coast Turf Club ahead of Magic Millions lead up