Hawke's Bay's more reliable weather has again been recognised with a decision to run feature jumping events, the Wellington Steeplechase and Wellington Hurdles, in Hastings on Thursday.
The move follows the cancellation of racing at Trentham on Saturday because of the storm and flooding which engulfed Wellington and much of the rest of the central and western regions.
It's a repeat of circumstances that saw the two big races run at Hastings in 2017 when the conditions ruled out running them on the Trentham track.
Hawke's Bay Racing already had a race day scheduled for Thursday, as it had when the call went out four years ago. Chief executive Darin Balcombe said the two jumps races would be added to the programme, originally to have comprised eight races, without any jumps.
"We were just about to put them (the hurdles and fences) away until the summer," he said, as the club prepares for its "Stockies" Season Finales race day, a big day out for stock agents and the farming industry, and the last day of the 2020-2021 racing season, which ends on July 31.