Wednesday’s scheduled twilight meeting at Sandown has been postponed by 24 hours and will now be run on Thursday due to extreme heat conditions forecast for Melbourne.
Racing Victoria confirmed the change on Monday morning after considering a range of alternatives, including relocating the meeting to another venue.
The decision was made on welfare grounds, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting temperatures of up to 41 degrees in Melbourne on Wednesday afternoon. Conditions are expected to be significantly milder on Thursday, with a forecast maximum of 31 degrees.
The meeting will remain a twilight fixture, with the first race set to jump at 4pm on Thursday.
As a result of the change, acceptances for the Sandown Lakeside meeting have been deferred by 24 hours and will now be taken at 8.45am on Tuesday. Acceptances for the Sale meeting will be taken immediately afterwards at 9am.