The washed-out races from the Tancred Stakes meeting will be staged at Newcastle on Monday following consultation between Racing NSW and Australian Turf Club officials.
Saturday’s Rosehill program was called off after three races due to safety concerns over the track with the Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) and Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) among the casualties.
Given the importance of the meeting in the scheme of the autumn carnival, racing officials quickly got their heads together to figure out the best way forward.
Several scenarios were tossed around, including the possibility of pushing the entire carnival back by one week, but in the end it was decided to transfer all seven washed-out races to Newcastle on Monday.
The switch will necessitate key distance chances to two races with the Vinery and Tulloch Stakes, which were to be held over 2000m, reduced to 1850m, and three-year-olds looking to back-up from the Tulloch into Saturday’s ATC Australian Derby (2400m) will now have to do so off a five-day turnaround.
All horses scratched from Saturday will be reinstated into Monday’s fields.
Leading trainer Chris Waller says that while the call to move the affected races back by two days won’t suit everybody, the industry has to work together and support the decision.
“We need to respect these decisions when they are made,” Waller said.
“It won’t suit all horses, it won’t suit all trainers, it won’t suit all owners and it won’t suit all jockeys but it is something we have to support.
“I think we have to respect the decision and work with it.”
The New Zealand-born horseman said the decision by Racing NSW stewards to postpone Saturday’s meeting after three races was the right one.
The call was precipitated by the jockeys, who went to the stewards with concerns over horse and rider safety.
“I’ve seen ‘deeper’ tracks in New Zealand but I think the stewards had no option as safety comes first,” Waller said.
“We must remember these horses are finely tuned athletes and they are not trained to run in the mud.
“Jumpers in England and Ireland might be more attuned to it, but our horses aren’t. Our horses are bred to run fast.”
