Tests on the remaining sections of the damaged grandstand at Randwick have begun but it will be at least Friday before the critical areas of concern can start to be assessed.
Australian Turf Club chief executive Darren Pearce confirmed engineers began testing some of the beams at the back of the Queen Elizabeth Stand on Thursday.
The preliminary results have been good but Pearce said that was expected given the position of the beams, which are protected from the weather.
“There have been no additional negative findings but those beams are weather-protected so we wouldn’t have expected there to be,” Pearce said.
“The news will be when the ones at the front of the stand, the weather-exposed beams, are tested.”
A crane needs to be brought in so engineers can safely test the beams which have been exposed to the weather and Pearce says that will “hopefully” happen on Friday.
The ATC revealed on Wednesday that engineers had discovered one of the beams in the roof of the QEII stand posed a safety risk.
As a result, the club was left with little alternative but to transfer Saturday’s Chelmsford Stakes card from Randwick to Warwick Farm.
Whether Randwick will be safe to host its upcoming meetings – including Group One George Main Stakes day on September 17 and Epsom Handicap day on October 1 – won’t be known until next week when tests on the remaining beams are expected back.
Pearce said the ATC remained committed to staging the spring carnival meetings at Randwick if at all possible but confirmed Rosehill was the back-up plan.
“It is logical to think that we’d take any meetings Randwick couldn’t hold to our other premium venue,” Pearce said.
“But the club remains focused on addressing the engineering issues and getting those meetings on at Randwick if possible.
“The only reason we took the meeting to Warwick Farm this weekend was to protect the (Rosehill) surface for the Group One Golden Rose next week.
“It looks like being a stellar meeting and we wanted the Rosehill track to be in premium condition.”
The Epsom Handicap is run over 1600 metres at Randwick but there is no 1600-metre start at Rosehill.
If the race was transferred, the Epsom would have to be run over either 1800m or 1500m with the latter the most likely option as it could cater for 20 runners if the rail was in the true position, while the field would be restricted to 14 from the 1800m start.
AAP TURF
