Racing Victoria (RV) wishes to advise of changes to race times at Swan Hill this Friday, 1 March, due to a forecast temperature of 39 degrees.
Swan Hill race times will be brought forward two hours to avoid the hottest part of the day, with the first race now scheduled for 11am and the last race at 2.45pm. RV will continue to monitor the forecast over the next 24 hours.
The gaps between races have also been reduced from 35 and 40 minutes down to 30 and 35 minutes meaning the program has been shortened to less than four hours.
RV has also announced that this weekend’s Australian Guineas meeting at Flemington will proceed as scheduled on Saturday afternoon following a revised forecast of 36 degrees from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
RV will continue to monitor the forecast over the coming days and may adjust race times at Flemington if the forecast temperature does rise.
RV will also to monitor the forecast for Wangaratta over the coming days and will adjust race times for the Wangaratta Racing, Food and Wine Carnival if needed.
The BOM have currently forecast temperatures of 36 and 37 degrees respectively for the two-day meeting which features Ladies Day on Saturday and the Wangaratta Cup on Sunday.
RV’s Procedure for Racing in Hot Weather Policy is enacted at all meetings where hot weather conditions are forecast to ensure the health and wellbeing of horses and participants.
Under the Policy, an additional vet is in attendance to assist in monitoring the condition of horses, large containers of ice water are made available at locations around the racecourse and horses are required in the mounting yard for reduced periods of time.