Chief Steward Confident Randwick Will Race

Racing NSW chief steward Marc Van Gestel is confident Day 2 of The Championships will go ahead despite more than 130mm of rain has falling at headquarters in the last 24 hours.

Rainfall has been a major part of the Sydney autumn carnival but the amount currently falling on Randwick is leaving visible surface water, something stewards consider very carefully when deciding whether to push through with a meeting.

“We’ve received over 130mm of rain but the good news is the forecast for Friday is better and the surface water is expected to disappear,” chief steward Marc Van Gestel said.

Around 10mm-13mm of rain is forecast for Friday and a similar amount for Saturday.

“The rain on Saturday isn’t ideal but we’ll be monitoring the track and unless we see no hope of running we won’t be making any calls early,” he said.

“Our preference is to run the meeting.”

The first race on Saturday is scheduled to start at 11.40am and the track is currently rated a Heavy 10.