Racing Victoria confirm Saturday’s Flemington meeting will go ahead

Racing officials have met to decide whether Saturday’s Flemington meeting will push ahead after a number of meeting were cancelled during the week.

Jockey Jye McNeil rides Blazejowski to victory in race 4, the Furlong Bar Handicap, during Chester Manifold Stakes Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Saturday, January 11, 2020. (AAP Image/Vince Caligiuri) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Racing will go ahead at Flemington on Satirday after a favourable air quality prediction was provided by the Environment Protection Agency.

Racing Victoria and the Victoria Racing Club made the decision ahead of their 4pm deadline after receiving a positive report from the EPA.

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“The report we got from the EPA was that the air quality will be the same as today which is moderate,” RV’s Racing Operations Manager Paul Bloodworth said.

Racing is scheduled for Flemington this weekend. Pic: AAP

“As a result we don’t have to have a meeting at 4pm. It’s full steam ahead,” Bloodworth said.

He added that the other two meetings programmed in Victoria would also proceed with the air quality at Camperdown rated good and at Woolamai picnics it was also moderate.

Bloodworth said the VRC track manager Liam O’Keeffe and also the RV stewards would continue to monitor the air quality on Saturday.

Racing Victoria had considered shifted the meeting to Sunday.

Wednesday’s Caulfield and Yarra Valley meetings were both called off due to the smoke haze as the state grappled with the fallout from the country’s bushfire crisis.

Racing wasn’t the only sport affected, with tennis officials and AFL clubs among others to alter plans as they monitor air quality and try to ward off potential health risks to players.

Smoke haze from the bushfires continues to hang over Melbourne. Pic: AAP

Racing Victoria added an extra meeting – at Werribee next Tuesday – to its racing schedule to compensate for the three meetings lost this week due to poor air quality.

RV did not reschedule Wednesday’s lost Caulfield meeting.

It has instead added an extra race – a Benchmark 70 over 2100m – to next Wednesday’s Sandown meeting.

It has also changed the conditions of a race at The Valley on Friday, January 24, with a Benchmark 70 (1000m) changed to a Benchmark 78.