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Weather forces venue change for 10,000

3 minute read

The Doomben 10,000 program won’t be held at its namesake track this year.

Racecourse : Eagle Farm. Picture: @eaglefarmracecourse

The wet weather in Brisbane has prompted Queensland racing officials to move the Doomben 10,000 meeting across the road to Eagle Farm. 

Given the amount of recent rain and a forecast for further heavy falls over the next 48 hours, officials feared the Group 1 program would be washed out if it remained at Doomben. 

Eagle Farm is renowned for its drying powers and Saturday's card is expected to proceed on a good to soft track. 

"The decision to transfer the meeting was made following the determination that there is very little likelihood that the racing surface at Doomben will recover sufficiently in time for Saturday's race meeting to proceed at that venue," Racing Queensland said in a statement. 

The venue change is set to result in a reshuffle to the Group 1 field with local horses Rothfire and Isotope now chances to start, while the likes of Godolphin pair Kementari and Andermatt, who are both adept on heavy ground, less likely to take their place on a better surface. 

While the Doomben 10,000 and Spirit Of Boom Classic both remain 1200m races, the move to Eagle Farm has necessitated distance changes to several other races. 

They include the Rough Habit Plate and Chairman's Handicap, which increase from 2000m to 2143m, and the Magic Millions Bright Shadow, which was to be held over 1110m but will now be a 1200m race. 

Due to the changes, the acceptance deadline for the meeting has been extended by two hours to 11am (AEST) on Wednesday.