Horse racing: Wet weather forces abandonment of Hawke's Bay carnival races

Dark Destroyer winning the big race on the first day of the carnival on September 10. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand's biggest race meeting of the week has been abandoned in a move that will cost the racing industry hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Hawke's Bay meeting scheduled for Hastings on Saturday was cancelled after heavy rain fell from noon on Friday right through the night, making the track too heavy and waterlogged for fair and safe racing.

The meeting is the second day of the three-day Hawke's Bay carnival and was to have contained the $300,000 Arrowfield Plate and the $140,000 Hawke's Bay Guineas.

Those major races may have to be re-positioned to another day on the racing calendar, not just because of their monetary value, but because of their Black Type status, making them even more sought after for horse's future breeding values.

But the loss of any race meeting, particularly a major Saturday race meeting which attracts enormous betting turnover, will cost the racing industry and TAB heavily.

Saturday is the highest turnover day of the racing week and abandonment of what was by far the biggest race meeting of the week leaves New Zealand punters with only one domestic race meeting today at Riccarton in Christchurch.

While the Hastings abandonment will increase turnover for that meeting, the financial blow of losing such a major meeting is the latest in a horrid few months of race meeting cancellations because of very wet weather.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing bosses now face a juggling act of where and when to reschedule today's major races into the already packed spring racing programme.

All bets on today's meeting will be refunded.