Racing Victoria Limited has defended its decision to move the Anzac Day races from Moe to Geelong.
RVL spokesperson Shaun Kelly said the decision was made in accordance with standard procedure.
“The track was inspected and rated a heavy nine on Tuesday afternoon,” he said.
“The weather forecast was then taken into consideration, as it always is, and with rain forecast for the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday RVL made the decision to move the meeting.”
The wettest track rating a race can be held on is a heavy 10.
Mr Kelly confirmed that RVL made the decision to transfer the meeting to “minimise the risk” of it being cancelled and out of concern for jockey safety, but denied gambling revenue was the trigger.
The MRC has a history of last minute transfers, and Mr Kelly clearly stated the club’s history did not influence the decision.
The races at Geelong had a high number of scratchings, but according to Mr Kelly the numbers were “about what you would expect” when a meeting was transferred at short notice.
“The main reasons for the scratchings at Geelong would have been that it is quite far from Moe, and at this time of year a lot of trainers have horses ready for wet tracks and they may not want to race them on the harder surface at Geelong,” Mr Kelly said.
Mr Kelly said transfers were generally more common between now and spring when tracks received a lot of rain.
