Palacio De Cristal has become the latest victim of the torrential weather in in Sydney overnight, being scratched from the $2 million Doncaster Mile.
Randwick Racecourse is currently rated as a Heavy 8 after substantial downpours overnight that are forecast to continue throughout the day.
The five-year-old mare, who has won five of her 27 career starts, was due to appear in the 2011 Doncaster Handicap in Race 7 at Randwick today.
The Encosta De Lago mare, who finished fourth in the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes last start, is renowned for only being able to perform on a firm track.
Trainer Grahame Begg has made it clear in the past that he would not run Palacio De Cristal on anything less than a Dead rated track.
“She doesn’t want any rain at all because she can’t handle any give in the ground,” Begg said last month.
Palacio De Cristal has had six runs on a slow or heavy track and has failed to place in any of them.
There are now 17 runners expected to take to the track for the 2011 Doncaster Mile later today, including race favourite More Joyous.
