Covid Update - 13th August - 4.00pm

 The final decision on Saturday’s proposed Cambridge meeting will be known by midday tomorrow (Friday).  

The meeting was originally scheduled for tonight (Thursday) but was transferred to the weekend with the escalation of Alert Levels to three in Auckland and two for the rest of the country. 

“We are doing everything we can to ensure this meeting goes ahead, but just what form it takes is out of our control,” says HRNZ Racing and Marketing manager Darrin Williams.  

If the status quo remains then the Saturday meeting will go ahead and only feature horses already in the Waikato area. It’s only if  Auckland’s Alert Level is downgraded that horses, trainers, drivers etc will be allowed to travel to Cambridge.   

“We think it’s exceedingly unlikely that Auckland’s Alert level will go down. We are expecting it to be a Waikato only meeting, and shadow fields have been prepared with that in mind. But we are yet to make a final decision, that will be made by midday tomorrow,” says Williams.  

Today’s Invercargill meeting has gone ahead under Alert Level Two protocols, meaning owners have been allowed on-course but the public has been excluded while the weekend’s South Island meetings are at Addington on Friday and Oamaru (Kurow) on Sunday.