The Victorian racing industry has copped a battering in recent weeks but on Wednesday it was the weather that inflicted the damage.
The midweek meeting at Sandown was abandoned after just one race when jockeys expressed safety concerns over fierce winds which lashed the course.
Racing Victoria deputy chairman of stewards Robert Cram said wind gusts of up to 92km/h were measured during the running of the opening race won by Dwayne Dunn aboard Nicholls Court.
Dunn expressed immediate concerns with the wind when he dismounted.
“Put the spinnaker out and away we go,” Dunn said.
“The boys will go out and have a talk about that.
“It’s quite strong out there.”
The jockeys took their worries to stewards then voted unanimously not to continue riding at the meeting.
“The senior riders met with us to relay their safety concerns,” Cram told TVN.
“No riders wished to continue riding due to safety concerns over the high winds.”
It is not the first time a Victorian meeting has been called off due to extreme winds.
Cram said he could recall at least two other occasions when such weather had forced them to pull the pin.
“There have been precedents in Victoria, here at Sandown on at least one or two occasions and I can recall one at Geelong more recently.”
The weather wasn’t the only concern for Victorian racing officials on Wednesday.
Danny Nikolic had an appeal hearing with the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board (RAD) as the fallout continued from an exchange between the jockey and Racing Victoria chief steward Terry Bailey at Seymour on Tuesday.
Nikolic was stood down from riding indefinitely by stewards following a comment he made as he rode a horse to the starting gates before the sixth race.
Nikolic is also involved in an investigation by Bailey and his panel prompted by allegations of race fixing which emerged during a Victoria Police probe into the unsolved murder of Les Samba, a former trainer and racehorse owner.
