It is the first time the Geelong Cup has not been run since 1953, when constant rain the night before the race led to the meeting being called off.
Racing Victoria’s head of racing, Paul Bloodworth, said the remaining six races would be run on Thursday, with the first race starting at 2.25pm, and they would be run in the same race order.
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Entry to the races will be free, although crowds will be down – Wednesday was a public holiday in Geelong. Consideration was given to moving three races to Ballarat on Friday but Geelong Race Club wanted to finish the meeting on Thursday with sponsorship deals a consideration.
“The race club was keen to run the remaining races here,” Bloodworth said. “This is a Ladbrokes track. Ballarat is a Sportsbet track, so they were keen to give their sponsors an opportunity to get something out of the day tomorrow.”
As well as the Geelong Cup – which has proved a strong lead-in race to the Melbourne Cup – Victoria Derby lead-up race the Geelong Classic will also be run on Thursday.
With a separate meeting to be held in Mornington, there will be several jockey changes required as some hoops are already booked to ride at the Mornington meeting.
Torranzino trainer Paul Preusker was relaxed as he waited for the decision on when to reschedule the Geelong Cup. “We just have to deal with it. Everyone has to do the same thing,” Preusker said.
Meanwhile, the Gai Waterhouse-Adrian Bott trained Sir Delius has been spelled after vets ruled him out of the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup, for which he was favourite, when scans showed he was at “a heightened risk of injury” if he ran in those races.
Craig Williams rides Sir Delius to a Turnbull Stakes win at Flemington earlier this month.Credit: Getty Images
Melbourne Cup runners are required to undergo compulsory computed tomography (CT) scans of distal limbs as part of protocols introduced to reduce the risk of injury after six horses died in the Melbourne Cup between 2013 and 2020.
Waterhouse Racing said on social media they would now set their sights on the autumn carnival with the group 1-winning five-year-old.
“He’s an extremely valuable horse and one we firmly believe will continue to prove he’s the best weight for age performer in Australia,” they said in a statement.
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