Sunday’s Birchip meeting has been postponed after the town received half its annual rainfall in recent weeks, with a further 50mm of rain falling overnight.
And Kilmore's track (pictured) was washed away overnight after 80mm of rain fell on the town forcing the relocation of tonight's meeting to Tabcorp Park Melton.
“We’ve copped six inches of rain in less than a month – the annual rainfall is 9-11 inches,” club secretary Brad Sharp said.
“We got 50mm overnight, which was a lot more than predicted.
“The track’s fine but the float car park and surrounds are all under water and it is just going to be too hard to manage.
“It’s devastating but there’s not much we can do about it.”
Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) General Manager of Racing Stephen Bell said HRV would work with Birchip to find a new date for its annual meeting.
“This is disappointing for the club because they’ve put so much work and promotion into what is always a great day, but we’ll explore all options with the club to help them find a new date on the calendar,” Bell said.
Kilmore CEO Ben Murphy was disappointed to lose tonight's meeting but said it was important an early decision was made for the benefit of industry participants.
“There’s a need for remedial work on the track because the base has been washed away,” Murphy said.
“It’s disappointing but we’ve had over 80mm overnight and we've made the call early.”
HRV has advised participants of schedule changes via text message alert.
More information will be provided throughout the day as it comes to hand. Follow this website, @TheTrotsComAU on Twitter and HRV’s Facebook page for the latest information.
Media enquiries: cwinnell@hrv.org.au or 83780288