Racing New South Wales has "vetoed a move by the Gosford Race Club to pre-emptively abandon Friday's Gosford Cup meeting over concerns the track is unsafe following this week's rain," according to Chris Roots of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Gosford CEO James Heddo sent an email to Racing NSW on Wednesday stating the club "wanted to be proactive" and move the three black-type races to its scheduled date on Jan. 15. Heddo said, "The track is under water in some places and we thought it would be better to let people know early that we couldn't race and allow them to plan for next week. Racing NSW wanted to waited another day and see if things will improve." The club "also believes a wet track would effect turnover and wants to offer the best product to punters." Some trainers "were supportive of the move" but horse trainer Gai Waterhouse "disagreed with the club's move." Waterhouse said, "We are too quick to call off meetings and there are some horses that are better on wet tracks, so why not give them a chance." Australian Turf Club Track Manager Lindsay Murphy said that Saturday's meeting at Canterbury "could be run on a soft surface given the drainage of the track." The Gold Coast was also a heavy-9 on Wednesday but "expected to improve quickly with a couple of days of sunshine forecast" (SMH, 1/6).
