Newcastle Racecourse will host the rescheduled 2022 Tancred Stakes Day meeting on Monday March 28^th after racing at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday was abandoned after the opening three races.

Duais is favourite to win the rescheduled 2022 Tancred Stakes in Sydney off her Australian Cup success at Flemington. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The Rosehill track was downgraded to a Heavy (10) after the first race and a subsequent large downpour between races 1 and 3 forced Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club to call off the remainder of the day’s events.

In the interest of jockey and horse safety, the subsequent seven races on the program were postponed and will now run on Monday at Newcastle’s Broadmeadow track leading up to this Saturday’s The Championships Day 1 meeting at Royal Randwick.

“It’s no fault of anyone – it’s the weather gods,” jockey James McDonald said.

“It has just been the rain on the day. I couldn’t see a thing.”

All horses that were scratched from the original Rosehill meeting will be reinstated.

There are also two notable race distance variations:

The Group 1 $500,000 Vinery Stud Stakes will be run over 1850m (instead of 2000m)

The Group 2 $200,000 Yarraman Park Tulloch Stakes will be run over 1850m (instead of 2000m)

The 2022 Tulloch Stakes is a key final lead-up into the Group 1 $2 million Australian Derby (2400m) held this coming Saturday, April 2, at Randwick.

There will be no change to the distance of the meeting’s feature event, the Group 1 $1.5 million Tancred Stakes (2400m) where Edward Cummings’ Australian Cup winning mare Duais is favourite.

Another key Tancred Stakes Day support race serving as a lead-up into Saturday’s Randwick meeting is the Group 3 $160,000 Doncaster Prelude (1500m) offering a ballot exemption to the winner for the Group 1 $3 million Doncaster Mile (1600m).

Despite the challenges of rescheduling the meeting and the distance changes, leading trainer Chris Waller has backed the decision.

“I think what we have learned during COVID is there has to be a willingness to change,” Waller said.

“We need to respect these decisions when they are made.

“It won’t suit all horses, it won’t suit all trainers, it won’t suit all owners and it won’t suit all jockeys but it is something we have to support.

“I think we have to respect the decision and work with it.”

The Newcastle track raced at a Heavy (8) when hosting the transferred Wyong Provincial-Midway Championships Qualifier on Saturday.

The course proper at Broadmeadow however was expected to improve ahead of Monday according to Newcastle Jockey Club chief executive Duane Dowell.