Trainer Liam Birchley preparing for all options ahead of Saturday’s rich QTIS Jewel meeting on the Gold Coast

Trainer Liam Birchley has called on Queensland racing officials to map out contingency plans if Saturday’s QTIS Jewel meeting is lost due to Cyclone Alfred.

Cyclone Alfred has the future of Saturday QTIS Jewel meeting at the Gold Coast in the balance, with trainer Liam Birchley calling for clarity on contingency plans from Racing Queensland.

For trainers and jockeys at Tuesday morning’s Sunshine Coast trials, it was a sense of the calm before the storm.

The sun was out, and while there were a few clouds around, local trainer Liam Birchley said there was no indication that a severe weather event, namely Cyclone Alfred, was on the way.

“It’s dry as a chip here at the moment,” Birchley said.

“We’ve got the trials on at the moment, it’s a nice breeze and just a nice day, you wouldn’t think there’s anything happening at all.

“It’s a beautiful day here, there’s partial clouds, but it’s definitely not overcast or anything.

“We are a couple of kms away from the beach, the latest model has it (the cyclone) crossing between here (Sunshine Coast) and Brisbane.”

• Jewel in the drown as cyclone threatens Qld race meetings

Birchley and other trainers in the region are preparing themselves for when Cyclone Alfred does reach Queensland’s southeast coast, it is currently predicted to hit land either late on Thursday night or in the early hours of Friday.

Cyclone Alfred tracking as issued by the BOM on Monday.

“The horses are reasonably secure, we are taking measures, we are locking the barn doors, bringing anything inside that’s outside and that’s capable of ending up over the fence,” he said.

“We are clearing drains and all that sort of thing.”

The unpredictable nature of the cyclone has Saturday’s $2m Queensland Jewel meeting at the Gold Coast up in the air, with trainers waiting on a call from Queensland officials as to whether or not the meeting will be postponed.

A decision could be made as early as Wednesday morning.

Birchley has two strong chances in both $500,000 QTIS Jewel feature races on Saturday, with Betterlucknexttime in the 2YO race and Dream Smart in the 3YO event.

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“The situation they’ve given us is that they won’t be making a decision until the very last minute, which could be even Saturday morning, we are sort of in the dark, it’s basically in their hands depending on what actually happens,” he said.

“It would be great to know a contingency plan, whatever that may be, I can’t see them shifting tracks to another track on the day.

“I would presume maybe by Tuesday, or some day next week they might be saying ‘well if we don’t run Saturday this is the next option.

“It would be good to know that in advance, but I understand what they are dealing with, it’s a tricky situation with the commercial side of things with the race day and they want to run it if they can, it all depends on what we actually get.”

The Gold Coast Turf Club has endured wretched luck with weather events in recent years.

It creates a troublesome situation for trainers, who need to know what to do with their horses in preparation for a postponed meeting.

“You want to know whether you gallop him (Betterlucknexttime) on Saturday, or you’re having a walk, you don’t want to have to wait until 8 or 10 o’clock to know what’s happening,” he said.

Birchley, a veteran handler for over 30 years, has never experienced anything like Cyclone Alfred.

“It’s only the third time in history that it’s come across here, I haven’t seen it, the last time was ‘74 or something,” Birchley added.

“I don’t really know what to expect or if it happens like they think it will happen.”

In a first response to the developing weather event, Racing Queensland has brought forward Wednesday’s Sunshine Coast meeting to begin midmorning, while the harness meeting at Redcliffe has been moved into a day timeslot.

Greyhound meetings programmed for Wednesday and Thursday at Albion Park have been abandoned.

If the QTIS Jewel meeting is called off, a move to the following Saturday looms as the most likely option where the meeting will be staged in the twilight slot in conjunction with the Eagle Farm card earlier in the day.

Originally published as Trainer Liam Birchley preparing for all options ahead of Saturday’s rich QTIS Jewel meeting on the Gold Coast