By MIKE DILLON
The Auckland Racing Club deserves congratulations for deciding to race the $500,000 Auckland Cup and $250,000 McDonogh Railway today.
The temptation and opportunity were there for New Zealand's leading club to abandon both races.
That was certainly the most financially viable ARC option when 20 minutes of heavy rain ruined the Auckland Cup party at Ellerslie on Saturday.
Today's inclusion of the country's biggest race and premier sprint means the ARC has to pay out the three-quarters of a million dollars in stakes with the likelihood of only marginally improving its tote handle on what was already a big day's racing.
"I estimate that overall we will lose $4 million in betting," said ARC chief executive David Lloyd yesterday.
"The 10 per cent commission on that for the club is a $400,000 direct loss."
Add to that the refunds the ARC paid to customers on Saturday.
There was a stampede of racegoers demanding refunds in the raceday office after the announcement of the abandonment.
The club treated everyone fairly, but Lloyd was personally disappointed with the attitude of some people.
"Go to the cricket and if one ball is bowled there are no refunds. We ran four of our 11 races, but we made refunds."
Staff had to almost laugh when one racegoer asked for the refund of the cost of the helicopter he had hired to get to the course.
Some partygoers in Silks Restaurant asked for unreasonable refunds despite having already eaten lunch.
The club faced a tough predicament when Prince Of Power, ridden by Mark Du Plessis, slipped and fell with 700m to run in the fourth race, run just after the 20 minutes of heavy rain.
Jockeys were almost unanimous that continuing was not possible if the track did not improve.
Course manager Paul Williams broke up the surface of the track with a piece of machinery known as a ground hog.
Delegations of trainers, including Graeme Sanders and Colin Jillings, jockeys, including Grant Cooksley, Michael Coleman and Opie Bosson, and officials inspected the footing.
Chief stipendiary steward Noel McCutcheon then recommended to the ARC board that racing should not continue.
One intriguing option may have been to axe one or even two of the races because the surface dried reasonably quickly.
It would almost certainly have been safe for racing one-and-a-half or two hours later, but a weather forecast predicting heavy rain at 4 pm eliminated that option.
Frustratingly for the club, at 4 pm there were clear skies and the fine weather continued.
Trainer Graeme Sanders, who has highly fancied Magic Winner engaged in the $500,000 Blue Star Auckland Cup, says the club need a pat on the back for their decision on Saturday.
"It was not an easy decision and I hope everything works out as well as it can from this point for them," said Sanders, who has some element of self preservation in that Magic Winner definitely needs a firm track.
In a further gesture of goodwill the club has waived the usual $5 gate entry fee for today.
Racing: Courageous action may prove costly
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