Sport
26 March, 2025
Rain puts iconic North West meetings in doubt
While most have welcomed the rain, the impact will wreak havoc on the racing calendar.
While the late wet season rain has been welcomed in every corner of the region, several major race meetings in the North West will be under the pump to stage their major annual events.
The North Gregory Turf Club at Winton has already lost its meeting this Saturday as a result of 100 millimetres falling in the area up until Tuesday morning.
And the iconic Maxi Races at Maxwelton a week later has also been called off.
Apart from Mount Isa, which is a sand-based surface, all race tracks in the North West are dirt, which means that any moisture can quickly turn to mud.
And even when the track dries out on top, leaving a crust, it can often remain wet and slippery for several weeks after rain.
Julia Creek trainer Kerry Krogh, who also looks after the track for the Julia Creek Turf Club, will be under the pump to get the surface ready in time for the Dirt n Dust Festival meeting on April 12, which hosts the $22,000 Artesian Express – one of the richest races in the region.
Looking even further forward, the traditional Easter race meeting at Boulia and the May weekend races at Gregory Downs will also be nervously looking to the skies for clear weather.
It will be a race against the clock for both clubs to have their tracks in good order.
With at least the next two race meetings in the region unlikely to be able to present a safe surface, the pressure now turns to Racing Queensland for its response.
Mount Isa Race Club has already picked up one race meeting in 2025 and president Jay Morris said he would be willing to take on more to ensure that trainers and owners could continue to race their horses and earn prizemoney.
“We lost two races on Saturday because of rain but it was only because we had torrential rain while the meeting was on,” he said.
“I hope all of those clubs can race on their scheduled dates because they are really important to their communities – but we’ll put our hand up if they can’t.”
There is talk that Richmond, which has had less rain, could be a chance to take on the Maxwelton meeting. If not, it would be held in Mount Isa on Sunday, April 6 due to another event at Buchanan Park on the Saturday.
Morris said the final decision would be up to Racing Queensland and said that combining meetings, or moving to a Monday with an eight-race TAB program, were some of the possibilities.
“Any time you lose a meeting, that’s money lost from the North West,” he said.
“If there was an option to add races to some programs, or shift some of the prizemoney into an extra TAB meeting, then at least it would give trainers, owners and jockeys a better earn.
“One thing I’m mindful of is that trainers deserve the opportunity to race on different surfaces, so it’s not ideal for every meeting to be moved to Mount Isa.”