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A SLOW leaking water pipe almost turned Albury’s Oaks Day races into a late scratching yesterday.
A soft patch of ground near the 500-metre mark was first noticed early yesterday, but by lunchtime the ground had deteriorated, forcing officials to move the running rail out initially three metres and then a further two metres to ensure jockey safety.
At one stage up to 20 people including jockeys, stewards, barrier attendants and chief executive John Miller were on the track trying to fix the problem.
The first race finally jumped at 3.30pm, more than two hours later than planned.
Southern Districts Racing Association chief steward John Davidson had admitted the meeting was in danger of being abandoned.
“We had a broken water pipe under the ground at about the 600-metre mark which has resulted in a section of the track between the 800 and the 400 being significantly wetter than the rest of the course,” he said.
“The stewards instructed the club to move the running rail out around the wet patch to ensure we have safe, firm and stable footing for the riders and horses.
“The first race was supposed to be run at 1.25pm.
“There was a chance that no races would be run.”
Miller said they would dig up the track this morning to find the leak.
“It wasn’t like they were going to be running through water but the track was soft in that section,” he said.
“We picked it up earlier in the day and had expected it would simply dry out, but, if anything, it got worse.”
