Randwick’s Civic Stakes meeting postponed

The 10-race Civic Stakes card at Randwick has been postponed after heavy overnight rain in Sydney made the track unsuitable for racing.

Rated in the soft range on Friday, the course proper was downgraded to a heavy 10 early on Saturday morning before a track inspection by Racing NSW stewards at around 8am (AEST) deemed it unsafe for racing.

Chief stipe Steve Railton said while the wash out was disappointing, the amount of surface water on the course, combined with a forecast for more rain, left them with little choice.

“It’s obviously disappointing to have to call it off, but it’s the right call,” Railton said.

“We got a lot more rain than what was anticipated and forecast.

“When we inspected the track there was surface water, where previously it had just been squelch.

“The surface water was everywhere, it was still raining and the forecast was woeful.

“With all that combined, it would have been a waste of everyone’s efforts to come here.”

The Listed Civic Stakes (1400m) was the feature race on the program and racing officials were due to have discussions later on Saturday to determine if any races could be rescheduled.