Racing Orange's Towac Christmas Party meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon has officially been moved to Bathurst as the devastating effects of the ongoing drought continue to impact the Central and Western Districts tracks.
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Racing Orange executive officer Bree McMinn confirmed the Towac Park track is simply too hard and too dry to facilitate a meeting next Monday, the call to shift the seven-race program to the neighbouring Tyers Park was made earlier this week in conjunction with Racing NSW, on advice from stewards.
"Sadly the lack of rainfall is impacting us all and the track is just too dry and too hard to race on at the moment, but we're definitely still very hopeful of hanging in there and being able to host our next meeting as scheduled," McMinn said.
Bathrust Thoroughbred Racing manager Michelle Tarpenning said the club was happy to lend support to Orange during a tough period.
"It's a reflection of the tough summer ahead and we're happy to help any club out who needs assistance," she said.
"Our track is a Good 4 at the moment, which is really fortunate, and we've got a good supply of water. Obviously a lot of other clubs are struggling and you never know what the future holds.
"We have a bore and there's no doubt the aquifer has dropped considerably so we're being very mindful of our water usage. Around the edges it's looking patchy because of that decision but where we're racing it's going to be a Good 4."
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That next meeting, Racing Orange's usual pre-New Year's Eve Family Fun Day, is set down for Monday, December 30, which is quickly followed by another on Tuesday, January 7.
Although Towac Park has been able to host the meeting as per schedule for some time now the meeting shift spurs memories of its former battles with Mother Nature, although on the other side of the ledger.
Through 2014 and 2015 Racing Orange's track battled to handle the amount of rainfall it received, quite often the heavens opened in the lead-up to or on days of scheduled meetings and forced cancellations.