At 9:45pm AEDT, Racing Victoria Stewards made the decision to postpone the Group 1 Manikato Stakes Night post weighing out of race five at Moonee Valley.
Racing was delayed at 8:56pm AEDT following the 955m race won by the Lloyd Kennewell-trained Direct owing to lightning in the area.
With continuous storm activity on the weather radar, Racing Victoria Stewards in conjunction with the Moonee Valley Racing Club made the decision to abandoned Race 6, so there was a chance the Group 1 Manikato Stakes could be run and won on Friday night.
Horses were in the mounting yard and some had made their way out on to the track for the Group 1 feature on Friday.
A massive clap of thunder arrived two minutes prior to the jump and the decision to postpone the remainder of the meeting was made promptly at 9:45pm AEDT.
The thunder was significant enough to cause the coverage on Racing.com to lag, with the broadcast team referring to the thunder as the loudest clap they have ever heard.
All horses, jockeys and participants made it safely back to the mounting yard.
The early suggestion was for the Manikato Stakes to be added to Cox Plate Day card on Saturday afternoon, with the option of running the event as Race 11 and providing punters with a double Group 1 day at Moonee Valley.
More to come…
