In light of the significant rain forecast to fall in Perth on Saturday, Racing WA has approved a request from Perth Racing to transfer the Belmont race meeting scheduled for 2 August to Pinjarra.
As highlighted through recent weeks, following the remediation work undertaken at Belmont, it’s important we manage the workload of the track following the return to racing. The forecast heavy rain is, according to latest Bureau of Meteorology reports, likely to hit Belmont Park between 10am and 5pm on Saturday, with up to 30mm set to fall in that period.
In that instance, we could not be confident that we would be able to complete the race meeting, and there’s a high likelihood of heavy wear and tear on the newly remediated section of track. This could, in turn, jeopardise our ability to stage future meetings at Belmont Park through the winter months. The transplanted turf is still establishing deep roots and lateral growth, which means we currently need to manage how much we race when the track is very soft – this will obviously reduce with time, as the turf becomes fully established.
Saturday’s fixture will therefore be transferred to the Pinjarra Scarpside track and the meeting scheduled for Wednesday 6 August will consequently transfer from Pinjarra to Belmont Park.
Our primary concern is always the welfare of horses and jockeys, closely followed by a desire to ensure the industry has the best chance of staging every fixture scheduled for the coming months.
After successfully staging the first two race meetings after the remediation works, we appreciate this is a cautious approach and we appreciate the understanding of all.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the committee and team at Pinjarra Race Club for hosting this Saturday’s race meeting.