Hawkesbury on track to host Sunday meeting despite floods

[Wandering Eyes]

A look inside top Hawkesbury trainer Brad Widdup’s stable, with flooding currently affecting the Clarendon facility.

Despite there being frustration that Hawkesbury Race Club has been hit by flooding for the third time in two years, there is still confidence this Sunday’s meeting can go ahead.

They are the thoughts of CEO James Heddo, with a track inspection on Wednesday afternoon to determine if there will be racing this weekend.

“We’ve had a look this morning. We’ll do an inspection around 2pm Wednesday,” he told HorseBetting.com.au.

“The forecast doesn’t look so bad from Wednesday onwards, so we remain hopeful that we will be able to race.”

Two 1800m races – a Benchmark 68 Handicap and a Maiden Plate – could be staged over a mile instead as part of the eight-race card.

“We’ve got an issue in our 1800m chute, so we can run 1600m races. We’ve got two 1800m races scheduled,” Heddo said.

“The chute where we run the 1800m and 2100m races – there’s a fair bit of surface water in there.

“If we were to race there’s a possibility we’d have to pull those back to 1600. But again, we’re hopeful that we wouldn’t.

“These are worst-case scenarios. And it’s not even so much the rain, it’s just there being so much water around.”

Other worst-case scenarios involve Warragamba Dam being released and restricting access to the Clarendon facility.

“If Warragamba Dam is released – even when the rain stops, the water still may rise,” Heddo said.

“There are other issues around access to the racecourse. At the moment the North Richmond and Windsor Bridges are closed, so there’s only one road in.

“We’d have to take that into account to make sure people can get here, but we’ll have a good look Wednesday afternoon and weigh everything up and make a decision.

“It’s probably 50-50 at this stage, but we’ll do everything we can to race.

“A lot will depend on what happens weather-wise up to Wednesday afternoon.”

With this being the third time in just two years the Hawkesbury Race Club has been flooded, Heddo admitted resident stable staff were frustrated.

But the possibility of still being able to race on Sunday has helped collective morale around the stables.

“Without speaking for everyone, there’s probably a bit of frustration. People’s livelihoods have been affected, but there’s not much we can do other than manage the situation as it occurs,” he said.

“I think people have mitigated a lot of risk due to what they’ve learnt from previous floods, so there’s a bit of frustration that it’s happening again.

“We’re nowhere near where we were three or four months ago. It’s not as bad, and the weather forecast doesn’t look too bad for the rest of the week.

“I think we’ll be OK. But everyone is just hopeful now that the worst is over and the water will start to subside.”

On the plus side, trackwork still went ahead on the facility’s Polytrack on Monday.

“It’s been a great addition to our training facility. It was completed in 2018 and it’s a tremendous asset to have,” Heddo said.

Heddo said in May the club has plans to add up to 200 stables, and those plans have not changed – despite the bad weather.

“That wouldn’t affect us, but it will certainly guide us on where we can build them,” Heddo said.

“We certainly know where it floods and where it doesn’t flood. In a funny sort of way, it assists us to secure the appropriate location to build additional stables.

“It’s early days. But within the next 12 months I think we’ll have further news on that and we’ll have a plan.

“We’ll have to work closely with Racing NSW – it’s not solely our plan.

“But we’re hopeful that we can come to an arrangement with Racing NSW and expand, even if it’s staged in small amounts.

“Instead of saying we’ll put 200 in, it might be staged over a couple of years. It’s dependent on Racing NSW, but those questions will be answered over the next 12 months.”

Having to deal with another flood at Hawkesbury Race Club after being in the CEO role for just over three months would be enough to cause anybody stress.

But Heddo said his ground staff were resilient and handling this latest setback well.

“We’ve got a very good team here. Our team is fine in managing the situation as it occurs,” he said.

“Here at Hawkesbury Race Club our team has been tremendous and made sure everything’s in order.”

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