Eagle Farm gearing up for diabolical weather forecast for first meeting in almost two years

UPDATE: OFFICIALS will give Saturday’s scheduled return to Eagle Farm every opportunity to go ahead but contingency plans are being made in case the forecast deluge hits.

Eagle Farm is set for the ultimate test with the forecasted rain.

OFFICIALS will give Saturday’s scheduled return to Eagle Farm every opportunity to go ahead but contingency plans are being made in case the forecast deluge rains on the Oaks Day parade.

After close to two years on the sidelines, a crowd of up to 20,000 had been tipped to christen the revamped Eagle Farm on Saturday.

South-east Qld warned to prepare for dangerous weather on Saturday https://t.co/6WcqqGuXsq @abcnews #Bnestorm pic.twitter.com/rLVu1ijcLa

— Kerrin Binnie (@kerrinbinnie) June 2, 2016

That number will be snipped considerably if the forecast for 40-80mm of rain falls on Saturday, which could put the Group 1 meeting in jeopardy.

Brisbane Racing Club chief executive Dave Whimpey admitted he was anxious about the diabolical weather forecast for Saturday, but said it “will take a big call to stop it” going ahead.

“At this stage it’s not going to change the day and we’re going to open the batting,” Whimpey said.

“We do have some contingency plans and we have been in discussion with Racing Queensland and Glen Prentice and the Jockeys Association.

“We want to make sure the jockeys are safe. If they feel visibility is OK, we will continue. It’s just going to be a race-by-race proposition.

“We are heartened by the fact we have a track that is meant to drain at 100mm per hour. That’s yet to be tested with the level of rain predicted, but previous inspections after rain have been encouraging.

“How the rain falls and what that does to visibility will have a big bearing.’’

Conditions won’t be as pleasant as the first official trials on the new course proper at Eagle Farm last month. Picture: Jono Searle

Chief steward Allan Reardon said it would be the intention to gallop a horse on the course proper on Saturday morning, but like Whimpey, he believes the meeting should go ahead.

“The plan is to race,’’ Reardon said. “That’s what the track is made for. It’s a brand new track and it’s there to be used.

“The issue we might have, if the forecast is correct, is visibility. We will monitor that through the day.’’

Reardon walked the track yesterday and said it was perfect, even “a bit firm in places” because staff had held back on watering this week because of the forecast.

“We see this every time there’s predictions of bad weather a couple of days out from the races,’’ UBET’s Gerard Daffy said.

“People would prefer to wait and see what the weather is doing and assess the track condition.

“If we compare betting on this meeting compared to the past couple of weeks at Doomben, it’s down about 50 per cent. That will change if the prediction proves to be wrong, but at the moment people are very wary.’’

The weather forecast is a bitter blow for the BRC, who was expecting a huge crowd to welcome the return of Eagle Farm, which has not raced since August 2014.

The last time the Oaks meeting was washed out was in 1999, when a decision was taken to shift the race back a week and run it on Stradbroke day.

On that occasion, the filly Camarena opted to run in the Derby — and won — while Miss Danehill was the beneficiary of her absence in the Oaks.

Originally published as Eagle Farm gearing up for diabolical weather forecast for first meeting in almost two years