A malfunctioning sprinkler was found to be the cause of a damp section of track resulting in the postponement of the Benalla Cup.

After calling off the Benalla Cup meeting on Friday due to a damp section of track, the meeting has now been rescheduled to Sunday.

Friday’s meeting was called off after jockey Jack Hill alerted stewards to a section of track, approximately 220m from the winning post that extended four or five metres off the fence.

After consulting jockeys who were to ride in the opening race, Racing Victoria Stewards elected to postpone the meeting.

An investigation by RV Stewards and Benalla Racing Club officials found a malfunctioning sprinkler which had been watering the sand training track overnight as part of the club’s daily maintenance program was the source of the problem.

With little to no rain forecast between Friday afternoon and Sunday, RV Stewards and the BRC are confident that the affected area will sufficiently dry for the track to be suitable for racing on Sunday.

The fields will remain with all scratchings from reinstated while in addition, no scratching fee will be applied should trainers choose to withdraw their horses from the rescheduled fixture.

In accordance with RV’s abandoned meeting policy, a compensation fee of $550 per runner will be paid to connections affected by Friday’s postponement irrespective of whether their horses start on Sunday.

Race times for the rescheduled meeting will be confirmed later.