Mildura’s leading racehorse trainer yesterday described the wet and wild conditions at the weekend that led to the abandonment of one of Swan Hill’s premier events.
John Castleman was at the Swan Hill Race Course when torrential rain blanketed out one of the races on Saturday.
“When they were running Race Five they couldn’t see,’’ he said.
“The broadcaster couldn’t call the race properly because he could barely see the horses.’’
Castleman said the driving rain was relentless and reduced visibility to almost zero during the race.
The Swan Hill Cup was to have been run yesterday, but the 10-race program was cancelled early in the morning because of safety concerns for jockeys and horses.
As much as 50mm of rain fell on the track at the weekend, causing much joy for farmers and townspeople in the drought-hit region.
As well as the downpour on Saturday, torrential rain flooded the track on Saturday night, with unofficial sources claiming almost 30mm fell, making the track unsafe to race on yesterday.
“They were battling to race at the end of the day, and then they got 30 points or something last night, so they were always going to be struggling,” Castleman said.
For more of this story, purchase your copy of Monday’s Sunraysia Daily 8/6/2009.