The extreme hot weather forecast for the days ahead has triggered changes to race meeting schedules to ensure the safety and welfare of racing animals and participants.
Racing WA Chief Racing Officer David Hunter said officials were in direct contact with the Bureau of Meteorology and closely monitoring weather conditions to guide their decisions.
“Our hot weather policies are based on the principle that animal and participant welfare always comes first,” David said.
“When the forecast is 38°C or higher, officials consider racing later to avoid the hottest time of day, re-locating to a racecourse where the weather is cooler and rescheduling races to other days, times or venues.
“The aim is to alleviate the hot weather risk but we won’t hesitate to abandon a race meeting if it’s not safe to go ahead.
“It’s normal for some summer race meetings to be cancelled each year due to hot weather.”
The policies for both horse and greyhound race meetings require stewards, in consultation with veterinarians, to be satisfied that conditions have suitably eased from peak temperatures before racing goes ahead.
Upcoming thoroughbred, harness and greyhound meetings have been altered to manage hot weather conditions and ensure the welfare of all participants.
Thoroughbred
The race meeting scheduled for Saturday, 10 February, will no longer be held at Ascot due to the anticipated extreme heat, with temperatures expected to reach a maximum of 41°C in Perth and prevail well into the evening.
The event will be transferred to Bunbury, where conditions are forecast to be milder, at a maximum of 37°C. This move allows the event to proceed with additional measures as outlined in Racing WA’s hot weather policy for racehorses.
With Bunbury Turf Club stepping in to host the Saturday fixture, the midweek race meeting originally planned for Wednesday, 14 February at Bunbury will move to Belmont Park.
Participants will be advised of the minor distance changes required by the venue shifts today.
The Kojonup picnic meeting on Saturday has been abandoned due to the regional forecast of 40°C. In consultation with the race club, the meeting has not been rescheduled.
The race meeting in Pinjarra on Sunday, 11 February, is under close observation, with a current forecast of 39°C. Racing WA will continue to monitor conditions and update accordingly.
As previously announced, the race meeting scheduled at Geraldton tomorrow has been rescheduled to Monday, 12 February.
Harness
The Gloucester Park race meeting scheduled for Friday, 9 February, has been delayed and will begin at 6.10pm when the temperature in Perth is predicted to moderate.
Racing WA continues to monitor the forecast for Williams on Sunday, currently 41°C.
Greyhound
Options are available to manage race meetings scheduled for Cannington and Mandurah on Friday and the weekend, such as delaying events to the cool of the evening.
Racing WA’s policy stipulates that when the forecast maximum temperature at any time during the event (including two hours before kennelling) is 38°C or higher, the meeting will be:
Re-scheduled to another time of the day; or
Re-scheduled to another day or venue; or
Abandoned.
Greyhound race meetings are held in the late afternoon and evening, when temperatures generally fall, which often enables the meeting to go ahead with extra safety measures.
The race meeting will not go ahead if the temperature remains at or above 38°C in the two hours before kennelling or the conditions are not expected to ease sufficiently from the peak heat.