3 minute read
The Ballarat turf meeting on Thursday has been transferred to the synthetic track after a Stewards inspection.
A wet patch on the turf track has forced Racing Victoria and the Ballarat Turf Club to switch Thursday's meeting to the synthetic track.
The track was inspected by RV Stewards on Tuesday and again on Wednesday afternoon and deemed it unsuitable to race on owing to a wet patch near the 700m mark.
With rain forecast for the remainder of Wednesday and again on Thursday, the track was not expected to dry sufficiently, or in time, and the decision was made to transfer to the synthetic track in the interests of the horses and participants.
The transfer was made to the Ballarat synthetic track because there was no suitable alternative turf venue available on Thursday.
In transferring to the synthetic track, Race 4, a Benchmark 64 Handicap, and Race 8, a Class 1 Handicap, have been shortened from 1600m to 1500m.
The switch has also required a reduction in field sizes, as the synthetic track can only accommodate fields of 12.
As such races three, five, six, seven, eight and nine have been reduced to 12 runners, with those falling outside that limit being deemed emergencies.