The forecast is grim, but Flemington track manager Liam O’Keeffe says it is too early to become concerned about the prospect of a sodden Melbourne Cup.
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Various forecasts have predicted between 40 and 50mm of rain to fall on Sunday and Monday, which would ensure a soft surface at best for Melbourne Cup Day.
As for race day itself, The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting between one and 15mm of rain.
O’Keeffe said he was happy to wait another couple of days for the forecast to become clearer before factoring in the prospect of any downpour hitting the famous Flemington track in the lead-up to the Melbourne Cup.
“It’s probably a bit far out to tell exactly at this stage what we’re going to get,” O’Keeffe said.
“Probably it tends to take shape about five days out, but it just dances around a little bit seven days out.
“We’ll work through to Derby Day then look through to Cup Day.”
Melbourne Cup Carnival hopefuls galloped on soft ground at Flemington on Tuesday morning.
However, O’Keeffe said a mostly fine forecast until the next rainfall on Friday would allow the course to become firmer.
He said the rain received on Friday would determine his track preparation strategy for Saturday’s Victoria Derby meeting.
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“At this stage, we’ll probably give the track a drink tonight or tomorrow (Wednesday) to get it through to the rain on Friday,” O’Keeffe said.
“Then if we get enough on Friday, we won’t have to irrigate before Saturday.
“After Saturday, we’ll have another look at the weather over the couple of days following that and see what we do with the track.”
O’Keeffe said preparatory work done during breaks in Flemington’s racing schedule would be a big help to the track should the long-range forecast prove accurate.
“It’s a great draining track,” O’Keeffe said.
“We do a lot of work during our renovation after the carnival and a lot in August.
“We core the track and that just opens up the profile so the heavy rain can get through it.
“You don’t want heavy rain on the day but if you have it the day before, it does get a chance to go through the profile to provide a good surface.”
This article first appeared on punters.com.au and was reproduced with permission.
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