Blaze A Trail ridden by Teo Nugent wins the bet365 Mildura Cup at Mildura Racecourse on July 22, 2022 in Mildura, Australia. (Photo by Pat Scala/Racing Photos)
The upcoming Mildura Cup Carnival, originally scheduled to take place on July 21 and 22, has been relocated to alternative venues after the Mildura track failed to recover from the devastating floods that occurred last year.
The track underwent remedial work, but it will not be suitable for racing in time for the two-day carnival.
The Friday meeting will now be held in Donald, while the Saturday meeting has been transferred to the Pakenham Synthetic track.
Racing Victoria, the Mildura Racing Club, and Country Racing Victoria expressed disappointment over the situation but assured stakeholders that they are working diligently to facilitate the return of racing to Mildura in the early part of the 2023-24 racing season.
Additionally, three winter meetings originally planned for Ballarat have been relocated due to the temporary unavailability of the inner grass training track.
Trainers will have access to the course proper for horse training, and as a result, the meetings scheduled for June 8, June 25, and July 9 have been moved to Werribee.
Moreover, due to facility upgrade works at Cranbourne, four meetings have been shifted to alternate venues.
The June 21 meeting will now be held at Mornington, the July 6 meeting at Moe, the July 14 meeting at Bairnsdale (which required Moe to vacate its slot), and the July 20 meeting at the Pakenham Synthetic track.