Racing: Wingatui abandoned

A torrential downpour after the fourth race caused the abandonment of the last six races at the Otago Racing Club meeting at Wingatui yesterday.

A hailstorm with thunder and lightning left considerable surface water on the track, which was already rated soft.

"It was a safety factor," said John Hunter, the stipendiary steward in charge of the meeting.

"It was a unanimous decision to abandon as the track was considered to be unsafe."

The decision was made after a meeting involving stipendiary stewards, jockeys Hayden Tinsley, Terry Moseley, Judy Lawson and Lance Robinson, trainers Shane Anderton and Terry Kennedy, club chief executive officer Andre Klein and president Malcolm Little.

Trainers Michael Pitman and Paul Harris were upset with the decision.

Said Pitman: "It is the most pathetic decision I have heard in my life."

- NZPA