Melton Tabcorp Park: Harness racing rocked by Covid scare forcing drivers into isolation

A race meeting has been cancelled and several leading drivers forced into isolation after Victoria’s home of harness racing was identified as a Tier 1 Covid exposure site.

Melton’s Tabcorp Park has been identified as a tier one exposure site.

A Covid scare has rocked Victorian harness racing, forcing Wednesday’s Tabcorp Park Melton meeting to be called off.

Late on Tuesday night Harness Racing Victoria learned a participant who attended the Tabcorp Park Melton race meeting on Monday, August 2, had subsequently tested positive to COVID-19.

Everyone who attended the race meeting, including drivers such as Chris Alford, John Caldow, Jack Laugher, Craig Demmler, Lance Justice and others, have been told to isolate and get tested immediately.

“Just after midnight last night we received notification from the DHHS that a participant who attended the August 2 Tabcorp Park meeting had tested positive post the meeting,” HRV CEO Dayle Brown told RSN radio.

“We quickly assembled our Covid team and worked with the DHHS on the basis Tabcorp Park was potentially a Tier 1 site and sent a text to all participants who attended that meeting, instructing them to isolate and get tested.”

The participant only attended the August 2 meeting briefly and it is understood they have not been at any race meetings since.

“There were no crowds at that race meeting (August 2) and only 72 participants and we don’t think the participant came into contact with many of them because they were only at the track briefly,” Brown said.

“The key question is whether the participant had been exposed before attending the August 2 meeting. That’s for the DHHS to establish and we’re awaiting more information as the day unfolds.

“It’s an evolving situation. We are working closely with the DHHS to run this to ground and get more clarity.”

Asked whether this could cause a shutdown to Victoria’s harness racing industry, Brown said: “It’s far too early to suggest that. Let’s see what information comes out through the day. We have options, like the zoned racing (restricted zones within Victoria) we created during last year’s Covid outbreak, if it comes to that, to keep the industry going.”

* Adam Hamilton is a paid contractor for News Corporation writing on harness racing

Originally published as Melton Tabcorp Park: Harness racing rocked by Covid scare forcing drivers into isolation