The Adelaide River Show Society (ARSS) has every right to be gutted.
Damage to the racetrack caused by feral pigs has forced the iconic Adelaide River Cup meeting to be transferred to Fannie Bay in Darwin on Saturday.
There was no option as the damage was too severe.
Large sections of the racetrack had been dug up by the pigs.
Following an inspection of the grassed surface in late April by David Hensler, Chairman of Stewards for Thoroughbred Racing Northern Territory (TRNT), it was deemed unsafe for racing.
There was simply no time to rectify the situation.
The ARSS was in full swing preparing for its annual race meeting and had in fact mowed the racetrack before the pigs intervened.
Hosting the meeting at Fannie Bay allows for the annual Adelaide River Cup to go ahead, meaning horses can continue their preparation for the Darwin Cup Carnival starting on July 2.
The 2018 Cup meeting in Adelaide River – approximately 100km south of Darwin – was abandoned after just two races due to the condition of the track.
A lot of water had been retained underneath the track, especially down the side once leaving the back straight, so when horses cut through the top of the surface it chopped up badly.
Understandably, the 2020 meeting was abandoned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2022 Adelaide River Cup could have easily been scrapped, so for the meeting to go ahead is a win for the ARSS and TRNT.
Steps are already in place to ensure that the Cup meeting takes place in Adelaide River next year.
TRNT has already acquired quotes to re-fence the track and get the right kind of fencing to ensure that the pigs won’t burrow under it, and will consult a turf specialist to best determine how to rectify the damage.
Right now that’s little consolation for the ARSS.
Vice-president Sandra MacLean admitted that she cried when it was confirmed that the meeting would be transferred from Adelaide River to Darwin.
“It’s sad, it’s really heart-breaking that it has happened,” she said.
“We rely on the races here at Adelaide River for the Show Society, which runs the race day.
“That keeps us going all year, so it’s going to be a real struggle trying to get through the year and on to next year with what funds we’ve got.
“That’s the worst part of it of all.
“There’s also the costs – we still pay for electricity, we still pay land rates, we still pay the insurance.
“Usually what we take at the races takes us through to the next year.
“When it comes to budgeting, we’ve got to be really strict.”
According to MacLean, the Adelaide River Cup meeting gets bigger and bigger every year – so much, in fact, she argues that it attracts more patrons than Alice Springs Cup Day.
She added that people from Darwin love making the trip, which offers the opportunity to camp at the caravan park adjacent to the racetrack.
After meeting with TRNT, MacLean was hopeful that the ARSS would be allocated an alternative date to host the Adelaide River Cup.
That wasn’t possible, with the territory’s racing body suggesting the meeting could instead be transferred to Darwin.
There may have been an element of reluctance from the ARSS at first, but in the end an agreement was reached.
“No way in the world would we even think about running a race meeting on the track or put any horse or jockey in jeopardy,” MacLean said.
“I thought can’t we just swap a day – somebody takes our race meeting and we have their race meeting in August.
“There were even suggestions at that meeting of turning our track into a dirt track.
“I said no way, I don’t want a black dirt track like Darwin and Alice Springs.
“At the end of the day the pigs don’t care if it’s dirt or grass – they will go in and dig.”
MacLean indicated that the racetrack problems first surfaced during the wet season.
“One of the caretakers went for a walk around the track and although the grass was up to your knees he said the pigs have been in there,” she said.
“We can’t drive on the track at all in the wet season because it’s on flood plains.
“I notified the TRNT.
“We had soil and decided we’d throw it on what we thought was just a little job, but the pigs had got around to quite a few places and made a really big mess on the track.
“It’s a mess, but it can be repaired put it that way.”
Maclean, who resides 8km out of town, stressed that there had always been issues with pigs in Adelaide River – but not to this extent.
“I’ve been here 25 years, we’ve been very fortunate I suppose they haven’t been on the track like they have now,” she said.
“They’re just rife through Adelaide River at the moment and you just can’t go out and shoot them.”
Over the years there have been adjustments to ensure that there are no interruptions to the Darwin Cup Carnival, which now starts on the first Saturday and ends on the first Monday in August.
A second race meeting was once held at Adelaide River after the Fannie Bay showpiece, and the Adelaide River Cup was once held at the end of May and during the Darwin Cup Carnival.
“We used to have the Cup smack in the middle of the Darwin Cup Carnival,” MacLean said.
“They used to have one week off when they didn’t race and they came down to Adelaide River.
“We didn’t have to worry about the track being too wet.
“We’ve got a watering system on the track, so if it was two weeks later or three weeks later it wouldn’t worry us that much.
“We’re really pushing it – we’ve just got to prey for the dry to come in fast.
“It’s a country race meeting.
“We’re not going to be Flemington with those beautiful lawns, but we give it a good go – put it that way.
“Hopefully next year will be a bigger and better Cup than ever.”
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