Racing: Waitangi Day races

RIU stipendiary steward Nigel McIntyre interviewed all riders in the opening race. Photo / Thinkstock

Champions Day will now be run on Waitangi Day after the Otago Racing Club's feature meeting of the year was abandoned after one race at Wingatui on Saturday.

Racing Integrity Unit stewards, jockeys and the Judicial Control Authority were unanimous in their agreement to abandon the meeting after Tedesco slipped badly with 300m to go in the first and only race on Saturday.

Otago Racing Club chief executive Andre Klein said misty rain had been the main culprit after dealing with a dry January. "It's always difficult managing grass and racetracks when you've endured this kind of weather," Klein said.

"We've had the driest January in certainly the past 15 years. And then to cop this foggy rain on top of a surface which we've done everything to get water into with irrigation."

The club worked in with the TAB and other service providers and confirmed a new date for the meeting by 4pm on Saturday.

The meeting, with all three features, will begin soon after noon on Friday, meaning it will be just eight days before the feature meeting at Ascot Park on February 14.

RIU stipendiary steward Nigel McIntyre interviewed all riders in the opening race, won by the Les Didham-trained Ash.

"Following the race, on weigh-in, several riders expressed their concerns about an area from the 700m to the 300m mark."