A Sandown meeting has been called off for the second time in two months with jockeys voting not to ride at the city course.
The July 20 meeting was abandoned after one race while three races were run on Wednesday before racing was abandoned.
Both meetings were held on Sandown’s Lakeside circuit.
Jockeys first alerted Racing Victoria stewards to a problem on the home turn following race two after which a 400m section of track was aerated.
There were mixed reports following race three before jockeys were called before stewards and a secret ballot of riders in race four was taken.
The vote was five-four to abandon the meeting.
Champion jockey Damien Oliver said Wednesday’s problem was in the same area that caused the July 20 meeting to be called off.
“It’s unfortunate, especially when you get what looks a good track,” Oliver said.
“There’s obviously a problem with that section of the track. It’s the second time it’s happened now.
“They did some remedial work which we hoped would get us through the meeting but there were a couple of horses that lost their footing coming around the corner.
“It’s not ideal for this time of year as we want the meetings to go ahead.”
Oliver said recent meetings on the Hillside course had been run without any problem.
Melbourne Racing Club general manager of racing, Jake Norton, said the club would undertake a thorough investigation of the problem area.
He said there had been a problem with that same area of the track over the past three or four months, adding the club was accountable.
“Clearly it is something we have to investigate scientifically and understand how it happens,” Norton said.
“Perhaps we need some land engineers to assist us with this process.”
Norton said the track looked fine for racing but a strong northerly wind had possibly dried the track out more than anticipated.
Trainer Mitchell Beer had scratched his two runners only minutes before the meeting was abandoned at 2.53pm.
Beer said it did not matter if it was a country meeting or a city meeting, the most important thing was to get the horses home safely.
“A lot of people criticise jockeys but they are the ones that know these tracks,” Beer said.
“A lot of them are Group One jockeys and they know what is going on.
“The welfare of horse and jockey must come first.”
Sandown’s next meeting is scheduled for November 12 on the Hillside course featuring the Zipping Classic.
