Moree races: Six-race meeting set for Saturday

Moree Race Club were then put in the hot seat when asked to host a meeting at short notice, but the club took on the challenge with both hands and will put on a packed Sky 2 six-race program on Saturday.

Despite recently racing on July 20, track curator John Brown insisted the course was in good order.

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"It's all good, if it doesn't rain, we will get to a [good] four," Brown said.

The long-serving track curator admitted it was tougher to get the Moree course in racing condition so quickly after a meeting, but he explained that his team had been working hard ahead of Saturday's program.

"It's always harder in wintertime, and that last meeting, it did a bit of damage and cut the top up, but it is holding together," Brown said.

"We've actually had to jump in and work pretty hard to get it ready.

"There had been a prediction of warmer weather, so we aerated and fertilised the track after the last meeting, and we got a bit lucky that I didn't go too deep, or we wouldn't have this meeting."

The 24-year veteran of the club said it had been a tough couple of years for Moree, with the drought having an impact on water availability, before the March floods washed a lot of top soil away.

"We had the drought and we had to buy water more than we normally would, then the flood knocked us around, and with the water table the way it is, it can be tough - a dew can keep it heavy," Brown said.

"Especially at this time of the year, we gallop of a morning and it could be a soft six, and in the afternoon, it could be an easy five."

Moree Race Club normally hosts eight meetings a year, but pick-up meetings have been the norm in recent times and Brown said it was just a matter of being ready to race year-round.

"We have eight meetings including the picnics, but we have picked up a couple of meetings from Gunnedah," Brown said.

"I've been here from 20-odd years, so we need to be ready, and we've bought the right materials and I aerate after every meeting, and it gets the track right."

With a strong six-race card on offer on Saturday, punters and racing fans will hope Brown is right and that Moree can race on a good four, as there is sure to be plenty of interest both on and off track.

The gates will open at midday with the first race set to jump at 1.16pm. For more information on entry requirements, readers can click here.

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