Doomben’s Saturday meeting moved to Toowoomba

Saturday’s 10-race metropolitan meeting has been transferred to Toowoomba, due to the Doomben surface being deemed unsuitable for racing.

The decision was made on Friday morning to move the program from the state’s capital to Clifford Park Racecourse in the Darling Downs.

Doomben has reportedly received 770mm of rain in the past seven days, so authorities acted quickly to move the meeting, rather than risk abandonment for the second consecutive Saturday.

There have been a few minor adjustments to the program, as follows:

• Race 1 – was 1600m, now 1625m (starting limit unaffected)
• Race 2 – was 1110m, now 1100m (starting limit unaffected)
• Race 3 – was 1110m, now 1100m (starting limit unaffected)
• Race 4 – remains 2000m (starting limit unaffected)
• Race 5 – was 1600m, now 1625m (starting limit reduced from 15 to 12)
• Race 6 – was 1600m, now 1625m (starting limit unaffected)
• Race 7 – was 1110m, now 1100m (starting limit reduced from 16 to 14)
• Race 8 – was 1110m, now 1100m (starting limit reduced from 16 to 14)
• Race 9 – was 1350m, now 1300m (starting limit reduced from 15 to 12)
• Race 10 – remains 1200m (starting limit reduced from 16 to 14)

The track at Toowoomba is rated a Soft 7, with further improvement expected due to a dry weather forecast.

Also, Saturday’s Gold Coast meeting has been transferred to the Sunshine Coast Polytrack.