Heavy rain throughout the week and again overnight left surface water on the track making it unfit for racing.

Officials from the Australian Turf Club and Racing NSW contacted all trainers with runners to canvass whether they would start their horses if the meeting was run on Monday.

However many trainers would not commit with the likelihood the surface would still be in the slow to heavy range despite clearing weather.

ATC chief executive Darren Pearce said the club would now focus on programming amendments so progressive horses engaged at Warwick Farm would have alternatives to take them into the Sydney autumn carnival.

“We have made some changes to the program for the Expressway Stakes meeting next Saturday and will be prepared to divide upcoming races if sufficient acceptances are received to help the industry overcome today’s abandonment,” Pearce said.

“We certainly need the weather to improve to get things back on target.”

Nominations for Wednesday’s ATC Hawkesbury meeting have been reopened for horses that were due to race at Warwick Farm and close at 4pm Sunday.

The two-year-old race at Rosehill on Saturday has been reduced from 1200 to 1100 metres and the Benchmark 90 has been replaced by a 1500m open handicap.

Sydney has been reduced to three tracks with major construction work at Randwick.

Canterbury had races on Friday night and Rosehill is the venue for next Saturday, meaning neither could be used to stage the Warwick Farm fixture.

Pearce said Warwick Farm was the only one of Sydney’s racetracks that had not had an upgrade to its facilities in recent times.

“It is the only track in Sydney that hasn’t been rebuilt with modern drainage,” Pearce said.

“We are working very hard to raise the funds to rebuild the track.”

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But Australian Turf Club chief executive Darren Pearce admitted there would have to be a dramatic improvement in the track to attract trainers.

Surface water on the track prompted Racing NSW stewards to call the meeting off early on Saturday morning following more than 30mm of rain overnight in addition to deluge earlier in the week.

“We rang around trainers and 33 trainers said they would not run on Monday if the track remained heavy,” Pearce said.

“At this stage most probably the meeting will be abandoned but we will hold off to give the track time to see how it responds to the sunshine.

“We will work with trainers to look for opportunities to reschedule some races, possibly at Rosehill next week.”

With Sydney on the verge of the autumn carnival, Pearce said it was important to try to reschedule races especially those involving two and three-year-olds.

Among those missing a run on Saturday is flying filly Karuta Queen with her trainer Neville Layt one prepared to race on Sunday or Monday if the opportunity arises.

Layt said he may be forced to give her a barrier trial instead ahead of a start in the Light Fingers Stakes in two weeks.

Although Sydney had been hammered by rain all week, Friday night’s Canterbury meeting went ahead but Pearce said it was not an alternative to Warwick Farm.

“After the meeting last night Canterbury was rolled so it’s not suitable,” he said.

He said Warwick Farm was the only one of Sydney’s four racetracks that had not had an upgrade to its facilities in recent times.

“It is the only track in Sydney that hasn’t been rebuilt with modern drainage,” Pearce said.

“We are working very hard to raise the funds to rebuild the track.”

The next ATC meeting is scheduled for Hawkesbury on Wednesday and Pearce said there was a possibility the meeting could be transferred to Warwick Farm depending on which track had the better surface.

Sydney is relying on just three tracks due to reconstruction at Randwick.

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Bell, who has four rides on Wednesday, was serving a careless riding suspension when admitted to hospital with pneumonia earlier this month.

“I was in hospital for two days a week after the Magic Millions,” Bell said.

“Then after I was discharged I got crook last week with a stomach bug and spent most of my time in the bathroom.

“I’m still not sure whether it was food poisoning or some other sort of stomach bug or maybe a reaction to the antibiotics I was given in hospital.”

Bell’s suspension ended last Friday and he had planned to ride at Doomben last Saturday.

“I rode trackwork on Saturday but I wasn’t right and kept going to the toilet all morning,” he said.

Bell, who turns 19 on Saturday, rode a winner in his comeback at Caloundra on Sunday before being forced to stand down from two commitments later in the day.

“I was fortunate to ride a winner at Caloundra but I still wasn’t well enough and had to stand down from my last two rides,” he said.

“I’m right now and I’ve got some good rides on Wednesday. I’m fully focused again and I can’t wait to get back.”

Bell tested his fitness when he rode in several barrier trials at Toowoomba on Tuesday.

“Our Patinack Farm track (at Canungra) is too wet to work horses so we took 21 horses to Toowoomba to barrier trial this morning,” he said.

Eagle Farm was a heavy 10 on Tuesday but with no rain falling on the course since the weekend, course manager Bill Shuck was hopeful of an upgrade.

The John Thompson-trained Start Again, who lines up in the Racing Retro Handicap (1600m), looks the pick of Bell’s mounts.

The five-year-old, who has two wins from three starts in heavy going, is stepping up to 1600 metres for the first time in his 16-start career.

Patinack Farm’s Gold Coast foreman Brett Killion is confident the son of Reset can break through at his fourth start this campaign following his last start third over 1350 metres at Doomben on January 18.

“He’s been looking for 1600 metres and was unlucky last start when he was trapped wide,” Killion said.

“He gets back normally in his races but over the extra distance he should be able to travel a little closer.”

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2012 Magic Millions 2yo Classic protest replay

*Video has been uploaded by an outside source and is in no way affiliated with JustHorseRacing.com.au

But Birch said he did not know if anything could be gained from watching the film.

“We will look at the footage,” Birch said.

“I would be surprised if anything came of it.

“We can’t assume or presume anything and I don’t think there is sound with the footage.”

Berry, who was second across the line on Driefontein, eventually won the race after he protested successfully against Nash Rawiller, the rider of Waterhouse-trained stablemate No Looking Back.

But the 20-year-old only lodged the protest after urging from stewards who told him if he did not, they would.

The protest was upheld on the grounds that interference suffered to Driefontein when No Looking Back shifted out in the final 100 metres cost her the race.

Berry told Sky Racing Waterhouse had wanted him to be “100 per cent confident” he could win the protest before he went ahead.

“I’m only young and it was difficult,” Berry said.

“It was hard because the owners of No Looking Back are good supporters of mine.

“But it came down to the owners of my horse and in the end I made the right decision for my owners.”

Driefontein is raced by a syndicate put together by Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds while No Looking Back’s major owner is Sydney businessman Nick Vass.

Waterhouse said she felt for the owners of No Looking Back but was looking forward to getting both fillies to the Golden Slipper in April.

“I felt so sorry for them but great joy for Denise and Driefontein,” she said.

“You can’t do anything about it. That’s life and we move on.”

As well as producing the quinella in the $2 million race in the Gold Coast, Waterhouse ended the week as the leading buyer at the Magic Millions sale.

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The grant was announced just days out from the track’s flagship Magic Millions race day on Saturday.

It follows drawn-out negotiations between Racing Queensland Limited (RQL) and the Gold Coast Turf Club (GCTC), which have recently signed a heads of agreement.

“This has been a long process and a lot of compromise between both parties has made this possible including RQL deciding against seeking equity in the club,” Racing Queensland chairman Bob Bentley said.

“Both RQL and GCTC want the best outcomes for racing on the Coast and I am delighted we could reach this agreement.”

Brett Cook, chairman of the GCTC, said the $35.4 million grant would allow for a major upgrade of facilities at the Bundall track.

“The funding grant will mean Bundall’s racing, members and training facilities will receive a significant upgrade to take the racing facility to a metropolitan standard,” Cook said.

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Page, the managing director of Harvey Norman and a co-owner of the Magic Millions sales company with her husband Gerry Harvey, and trainer Waterhouse addressed a morning tea on the Gold Coast on Sunday.

The initiative is also aimed at driving interest about employment opportunities and raising awareness about women’s involvement in the racing industry.

Page said she believed more women needed to be involved.

“Women still earn 17 per cent less than men in Australia for the same job,” Page said.

“We have a long way to go and I hope the half-million helps.

“I promise you that participation of women in racing will be different from today. This is an exciting sport and it should be 50 per cent women and 50 per cent men.

“Nothing under that is acceptable.”

The Magic Millions Racing Women scheme was announced in November by Page and Harvey who was his usual irreverent self.

“When Katie first told me about the half-million prize pool, I told her it was like plundering the store room and giving it to a bunch of skirts, but I know it will mean real growth for the industry in the end,” he said.

Waterhouse, seven times Sydney’s premier trainer and the winner of more than 100 Group One races, supports the cause.

“This concept has opened the door for all women and your friends to get involved with myself and the others, but make sure you have a lady trainer please!,” she said.

The 2013 Magic Millions 2YO Classic will have an incentive bonus of $500,000 to be distributed between the top four all-female owned or leased horses, in finishing order.

The race is open to graduates of Magic Millions sales which begin on the Gold Coast this week.

The flagship raceday is on Saturday with the two-year-old race carrying prizemoney of $2 million.

Harvey split with his Magic Millions partners John Singleton and Rob Ferguson last year and the company is now wholly owned by the Harvey family.

Former Sydney trainer Helen Page who now prepares her horses at the Gold Coast, said the incentive was timely.

“Something that Queensland really needs is this boost from Gerry and Katie with the extra money and the extra incentive because Queensland is a little stagnant at the moment,” she said.

“We need a lift right now.”

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A remote controlled camera was used this week to inspect the entire drainage system after Hanging Rock’s New Year’s Day meeting was abandoned following the first race because of a cavity, caused by a split drainage pipe, under the track at the 150-metre mark.

Racing Victoria’s chief executive Rob Hines said the remote controlled camera revealed that the integrity of the drainage system at other points of the track may be compromised, requiring further investigation.

“With the safety of all horses and jockeys being of the highest importance, Racing Victoria and the Kyneton and Hanging Rock Racing Club (KHRRC) felt the only decision available is to transfer the meeting,” Hines said.

“The infrastructure team at Racing Victoria will now work closely with Country Racing Victoria and the KHRRC to fully understand the extent of the problem and the available options for reinstating the track.”

He said a recommendation would be prepared for consideration by the joint infrastructure committee of Country Racing Victoria and Racing Victoria.

“Racing Victoria is mindful of the important role Hanging Rock has played over the last 126 years in exposing thoroughbred racing to a wide range of people and the important role it plays in the community,” Hines said.

“We are very hopeful that these issues can be resolved in time to return to racing at Hanging Rock on New Year’s Day in 2013.”

As a gesture of goodwill from the KHRRC, entry to Kyneton on Australia Day will be a gold coin donation with half the proceeds to be donated to the National Jockeys Trust and half to the Jane McGrath Foundation.

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McGauran has been appointed to the position of Director of Strategy, Marketing and Public Affairs and will begin in the new role on Monday.

McGauran’s most recent position was as the chief executive officer of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia.

As a former Minister for Agriculture, McGauran played a key role in the Federal Government’s $234 million income support package for racing participants in response to the equine influenza outbreak in 2007.

“Peter brings enormous experience and ability and will be a major asset to the NSW racing industry,” Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said.

Racing Victoria has commissioned a remote control camera to inspect the drainage system at the iconic location after the New Year’s Day meeting was abandoned when part of the home straight collapsed during the first race.

Felidea knuckled and almost sent his rider Cameron Quilty to the ground at the 150m mark when the track gave way.

The colt recovered to win the race.

The cavity which appeared in the track was caused by a split in a drainage pipe.

The camera will be used on Thursday morning to inspect the drainage system and assess the extent of any further damage.

If the track is not deemed safe the meeting will be transferred to nearby Kyneton.

Up to 10,000 people flock to the town which holds just the two race meetings a year.

The 2011 Australia Day meeting had to be abandoned due to kangaroos on the track.

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