No Synthetic Tracks For Sydney Courses As Wet Weather Leads To Race Cancellations

Sydney's "big wet has caused the cancellation of Randwick (after three races) and Rosehill on the last two important Saturdays, costing its industry millions in tote-driven earnings," according to Matt Stewart of the HERALD SUN. A handful of provincial meetings "also have been washed out," but Racing New South Wales, backed by the state's two top trainers, "refuses to consider a synthetic solution." Some say that "synthetic tracks, particularly the inner track at Geelong, provide unattractive racing and cause higher injury rates." Racing NSW CEO Peter V'landys "was scathing in his assessment of synthetic tracks last Sunday, saying they 'cost millions of dollars to install, they haven't been successful and are not popular with punters.'" Trainer Peter Snowden agreed synthetic was not the solution, saying that "low betting on artificial tracks such as Caloundra and Ipswich in Queensland proved punters disliked them" (HERALD SUN, 7/2).