For the second year in a row, the Alice Springs Turf Club was forced to postpone it’s NT Guineas meeting scheduled for Saturday at Pioneer Park because of rain.
Heavy rains associated with ex-Tropical Cyclone Megan drenched the Northern Territory during the week, with up to 40mm falling in the Red Centre on Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Subsequently, Alice Springs based Thoroughbred Racing NT stewards, headed by David Westover, called the meeting off following an inspection of Pioneer Park’s dirt surface on Saturday at 7.30am.
NT Guineas Day, which is traditionally Day 2 of the Alice Springs Cup Carnival, was scheduled for Saturday, April 15, last year, before the rains from ex-Tropical Cyclone Ilsa arrived in Central Australia.
Upwards of 50mm of rain fell early Saturday morning, saturating the track and thus forcing stewards to call off the meeting.
The program was rescheduled for the Monday, with ASTC general manager Tony McGovern confirming on Saturday that this year’s NT Guineas Day meeting will now go ahead on Wednesday.
Apart from the $50,000 NT Guineas (1600m) for the three-year-olds, the other feature races on the seven-event program include the $30,000 The Soldier Lightning (1000m) and the $27,500 NT Cattleman’s Association Handicap (1900m).
Two key races for the sprinters and the stayers leading up to the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) on April 6 and the $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) on April 7.
It’s once again an unfortunate situation for the ASTC, considering they revamped their Cup Carnival program this year by bringing it forward by a month.
In previous years, Cup Carnival started in April, with Cup Day scheduled for the first Sunday in May, although the 2023 Alice Springs Cup took place on April 30.
Long before the ASTC tweaked their Cup Carnival schedule at the turn of the decade, Cup Day was traditionally the first Monday in May.
“We’re going to race on Wednesday, that’s the plan, then we race again on Saturday,” McGovern said.
“It’s been raining here for a couple of days, it’s just been constant.
“Got a bit heavy overnight, we got about 40mm.
“The track was wet on Friday, but track work went ahead and the track was certainly fit for racing.
“At this stage, the Day 2 meeting will be re-scheduled for Wednesday, with the same fields.
“It’s just a matter of when Sky Racing confirm the times.
“It will be hard for horses to back up three days later, but unfortunately that’s what trainers have to bear in mind.
“They know what’s going on, so all good there, it’s just one of those things.”
The feature races on Day 3 of the ASTC Cup Carnival are the $40,000 Chief Ministers Cup (1600m) at weight-for-age and the $27,500 weight-for-age for the sprinters over 1200m.
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