Two race meetings abandoned because of unsafe tracks on New Year's Day MAT KERMEENTRISH DUNELL Volpe Veloce delivers Australian jockey Jake Bayliss his first Group I victory at Ellerslie. The first day of 2018 could have been a disaster for New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) and the Auckland Racing Club (ARC) if Ellerslie had been abandoned half an hour earlier. To be fair, many people will argue the abandonment of the Waikouaiti Racing Club's New Year's Day meeting, also because of an unsafe track, following the running of just one race was already enough to reach the catastrophic point for the thoroughbred code. The ARC managed to get through eight of its nine races before its New Year's Day meeting was abandoned because of an unsafe track. The New Year's Day meeting was hit hard by heavy rain showers that dramatically changed track conditions.

Source: Stuff January 01, 2018 06:56 UTC