Queensland officials are scrambling to draw up contingency plans for race meetings this week as Cyclone Alfred approaches

Officials are drawing up contingency plans for race meetings this week – particularly Saturday’s $2m Queensland Jewel day at the Gold Coast – with Tropical Cyclone Alfred bearing down on the state’s southeast.

Acting Gold Coast mayor Donna Gates points out the dangers of Tropical Cyclone Alfred at the Disaster and Management Centre.

Queensland officials are scrambling to draw up contingency plans for race meetings this week, with the state’s southeast in the firing line of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The cyclone is likely to cross the southeast coast on Thursday, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting destructive wind gusts exceeding 130km/hr, “depending on the movement and development of Tropical Cyclone Alfred”.

The No.1 priority is the $2 million Queensland Jewel Day on the Gold Coast on Saturday when the BOM has forecast up to 50mm of rain for the Glitter Strip, on top of a possible 60mm on Thursday and 100mm on Friday.

The $500,000 2YO QTIS Jewel and the $500,000 3YO QTIS Jewel headline the card at the Gold Coast for Queensland-bred horses.

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Racing Queensland’s racing manager Ross Gove said officials would have a clearer picture on Tuesday as stakeholders, including broadcaster Sky Racing, were consulted and weather forecasts were updated.

Gove said devising contingency plans was a difficult process considering the “packed schedule” and the “domino effect” of rescheduling race meetings.

In southeast Queensland alone, the effects of the cyclone are likely to heavily impact scheduled race meetings at Doomben on Friday, the Gold Coast, Esk, Ipswich and Toowoomba (night) on Saturday and the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

“There are race meetings all over the joint but obviously Gold Coast is the most important one,” Gove said on Monday.

“It’s the lowest-hanging fruit so we’ll wade through that over the next 24 hours and work out what it looks like and then let the industry know.

“It’s a domino effect because wherever they move to, it’ll potentially have an effect on someone else in a tight racing schedule.

“It’s a big puzzle. The most important one we have to cater for is the Saturday metro race meeting. It’s a big one, being the Jewel, so we have to find a potential home for that.

“The problem is finding a hole in the schedule.”

In the countdown to the Queensland Jewel Raceday on Saturday, March 8, GCTC Racecaller Mitch Manners identifies some of the key contenders for the $500k Aquis QTIS 2YO Jewel and $500k QTIS 3YO Jewel 💎 @RaceQLD@tonygollan@vandykeracing13@geranracing

🔗 https://t.co/S6YW1I9Zhspic.twitter.com/xRyh4lxio2

— Gold Coast Turf Club (@GCTurfClub) February 19, 2025

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Gold Coast Turf Club boss Steve Lines said his preference was to reschedule Jewel Day to Saturday, March 15 but he understood there was no simple solution, with Eagle Farm racing slated for that same day.

“Our preference is to go to the next Saturday given it’s a $2 million race day but the BRC (Brisbane Racing Club) may not be overly rapt in that,” Lines said.

“There are other factors in play. I’ve got a full house on Saturday. All the restaurants and corporate suites are booked out and the functions are all done so it’d be easier to move them to a Saturday.

“It’s not over yet though. I’ve lived in cyclone towns all my life and I’ve never seen one do a right-hand turn but I’m not going to make a judgment because as soon as you do, you end up with egg on your face.”

Originally published as Queensland officials are scrambling to draw up contingency plans for race meetings this week as Cyclone Alfred approaches