The Albury Racing Club has been compelled to postpone its highly anticipated Albury Gold Cup meeting due to adverse weather conditions.
Racing NSW stewards made the official decision to call off the event at 7am on Friday, citing safety concerns over the track’s condition. The decision came after more than 35mm of rain fell on the track since 11am on Thursday, leaving surface water in several areas and rendering it unsuitable for racing.
Albury trainer Kym Davison expressed his disappointment, noting that the early call by stewards was made to allow industry participants to adjust their travel plans. “It’s hard to believe the club has lost another cup meeting considering it was also washed out in 2019,” Davison told the bordermail.com.au. “The stewards made an early call which is fair enough to give industry participants as much notice as possible.”
Davison described the situation as “unbelievable,” adding, “The old hex strikes again on Albury Gold Cup day. You might expect to lose a meeting once in 50 years but not two in five or six years. It’s a huge blow for the club, and you feel sorry for them because of the massive amount of work that goes into preparing for a day like this.”
Despite the postponement, Davison speculated that a phantom meeting might still take place due to the number of people who had already booked marquees. “But it’s another savage blow to the club, which unfortunately nothing can be done about. I feel for the club… but there is one thing you can’t control, and that’s the weather.”
While the meeting has been postponed, finding a suitable replacement date on the racing calendar appears highly unlikely, leading to the likelihood of the event being abandoned altogether. “You can almost guarantee that the meeting will be abandoned,” Davison said. “Logistically, it is a nightmare trying to find another suitable date. A lot of the jockeys are already booked for rides at other meetings in the next three or four days.”
Davison highlighted the challenges of rescheduling, stating, “Take Sunday, for instance—there is a meeting at Goulburn, and all the jockeys are already booked for that meeting. The cup had a lot of Sydney trainers competing, and they are not going to travel to Albury next week because they will already have other plans. Then you would end up with the situation of not having enough horses to warrant running the cup. As harsh as it seems… that’s just the reality of the situation.”