Options for Snitz after wash-out
Trainer Matt Dunn has several alternate plans up his sleeve with three-year-old Snitz missing a vital run at Doomben.
Saturday’s Doomben meeting was abandoned after the track was soaked by 135mm of rain in just 24 hours.
Snitz had been set to run in the Three-Year-Old (1350m) as a lead-up to a heat of the NSW Country Championship.
Dunn believed the run would have rounded him off for the Championship qualifier at Grafton on March 10.
If Snitz runs first or second he will head to the $500,000 final at Randwick on April 7.
Racing Queensland has programmed a three-year-old handicap over 1400m for the Sunshine Coast on Sunday week which is an option for Snitz.
The Murwillumbah trainer said he would first check on the weather before coming up with an alternate plan.
“There are trials at the Gold Coast and Caloundra on Tuesday,” Dunn said.
“Obviously the Gold Coast trials is where we will probably head. But I have the option of a 1000-metre jump-out at Murwillumbah on Thursday or Friday.
“I could probably get him to the Grafton race as is, but some type of run is preferable.”
Stewards and track manager Jim Roberts inspected the track at first light on Saturday.
Chief steward Allan Reardon said there was no way racing could go ahead.
“The track is waterlogged and there is more rain on the way,” Reardon said.
“We had no choice but to postpone it at this stage.”
Racing Queensland has added three $70,000 races to the Sunshine Coast meeting on Sunday week, a Three-Year-Old Handicap (1400m), Class Six (1600m) and Open Handicap (1400m).
It has also added a Benchmark 90 (2000m) and a No Metro Win race (1200m) to next Saturday’s Doomben meeting.
Some trainers had suggested Saturday’s Doomben meeting be moved to Tuesday or the Sunshine Coast next Friday night but RQ found that was not practical.
Friday’s Ipswich meeting and the Gold Coast on Saturday were also lost because of the rain.
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