Two turf meetings at Ballarat transferred

Two more upcoming meetings scheduled for the Ballarat turf track have been transferred because of drainage issues and the effects of wet weather.

Sunday’s scheduled meeting has been switched from Ballarat’s turf to its synthetic track while the meeting programmed for July 14 has been transferred to Bendigo.

The meetings are the latest to be moved from the Ballarat turf course in recent weeks.

A meeting in May and another early in June were switched from the turf to the synthetic track while another meeting on June 16 was transferred to Echuca on turf.

Racing Victoria said parts of the turf track at Ballarat underwent renovation during the construction of the synthetic track this season and as a result a couple of sections are wetter than other parts of the course.

The two upcoming transfers means the next turf meeting at Ballarat is scheduled to be the Grand National Steeplechase program on August 25.

“With the very wet conditions we have experienced in recent months and the drainage concerns we have with two sections of the turf track, it is best that these meetings are transferred,” Ballarat Turf Club chief executive Lachlan McKenzie said.

“This will ensure that the track is in the best possible condition for the feature Grand National Steeplechase meeting in August.

“The drainage issue currently being experienced will be fixed with the installation of sand slits, but unfortunately the ground is too saturated to have these done at this stage. We apologise for any inconvenience and will do our best to have the drainage issue fixed as soon as possible.”

RV has added another turf meeting at Bairnsdale on Sunday in light of recent transfers and heavy balloting within country Victoria in recent weeks.