Heavy track expected for Sandown racing

Racing at Sandown is expected to go ahead on another wet track.

Wet weather has caused abandonments and transfers of race meetings in Victoria in the past two days but track manager Tim Bailey is confident the Sandown meeting will go ahead.

Sandown was rated a Heavy (9) on Friday ahead of Saturday’s meeting as a result of 72mm of rain so far this week.

“The only doubt would be if tomorrow we got torrential rain while the races were being run and that’s certainly not forecast,” Bailey told RSN927.

“If the forecast is even half right the meeting is in no doubt at all.”

Bailey thinks the track might stay at its rating given the forecast of showers and the way the course drains.

“It’s certainly closer to an eight than a ten,” he said.

“I’m really happy with the way the track is draining and recovering.”

There was meeting at Sandown on Wednesday in wet conditions with that program conducted on the Hillside track with the rail out 12m.

Saturday’s meeting is on the Lakeside course with the rail at 6m.

“For those that don’t quite understand the difference between Hillside and Lakeside, we were at 12 metres on Wednesday so it’s a shared back straight and the rail is at six metres tomorrow.

“So the inside six metres is fresh ground tomorrow on the back straight.

“Then we’re coming onto the Lakeside turn which is completely fresh ground.

“When they straighten up, on the Lakeside there’s 18 metres out to where they raced on Wednesday, so that’s obviously plenty of ground.

“I think they’ll use most of that 18 metres in the front straight as the day progresses.”

Racing at Wangaratta was abandoned on Thursday because of wet weather while the Geelong meeting on Friday was also abandoned because of overnight rain and surface water on the track.

Friday night’s meeting on turf at Cranbourne was moved to the Pakenham synthetic track.