Early starts for Victorian race meetings

Racing Victoria is bringing forward the start times of several race meetings because of the forecast for hot weather.

Following Tuesday’s announcement that Saturday’s Caulfield meeting would begin two hours earlier than initially scheduled, RV has also decided the other two meetings in the state on Saturday will also be conducted earlier in the day.

The two meetings scheduled for Sunday have also been brought forward.

RV said the Bureau of Meteorology had advised temperatures would peak in the late afternoon on Saturday and Sunday and the decision to bring the meetings forward had been made in the interests of horse and participant welfare.

The first race on Saturday’s Caulfield program will be at 11am with the final of nine races at 3.20pm.

Saturday’s seven-race card at Yarra Valley will start at 11.15am with the final race at 2.26pm while the Yea Cup picnic meeting will start at 11.40am with the last of the six races scheduled for 2.45pm.

Sunday’s eight-race Geelong meeting will start even earlier at 10.40am while the seven-race Great Western meeting will begin at 10.58am.

RV’s hot weather policy will be in place at each of those meetings, along with the four meetings on Friday which are scheduled to go ahead as planned.