Shire’s calendar event cancelled as Mingenew Cup abandoned after one race due to poor track conditions

The highly-anticipated Mingenew Cup was abandoned on the weekend after just one race due to poor track conditions, despite being previously cleared, in what has been described as a “disgraceful situation”. The annual meeting run by the Mingenew Turf Club is a marquee event for the shire, with a Fashions on the Field competition, bouncy castle, novelty horse race, fireworks and live performances all planned for the day on Saturday. Country Racing Association WA secretary and treasurer John Biggs said an official had been sent to Mingenew to inspect the track and no issues were flagged. “Racing and Wagering arranged for an official from Geraldton to go down and inspect the track some days prior to the meeting,” he said. “They were obviously satisfied with the track because there was no feedback; they (never) went back to the Mingenew race club to say that there was any issues with the track at all. “The stewards prior to the meeting, and senior jockeys, went out and inspected the track and they had no concerns with the track at all.” The first race seemingly went successfully, with Im On taking out the win in a photo finish during the 1400m run, but a horse had faltered at the 800-1200m mark. “After race one apparently there was a patch of the track, about three or four horses off the running rail, which a horse faltered on,” Mr Biggs said. “Because of that, the stewards declared the track unsafe for racing.” The remaining five races, including the headline Mingenew Cup race, were all abandoned after the track was deemed unsuitable for racing due to issues with the track that have not yet been disclosed. The bizarre situation resulted in disappointment among the many people who were involved in the day and expected it to go off without a hitch. “There’s going to be a lot of questions asked as to how this has come about, quite frankly it’s a disgraceful situation … the public, the owners, trainers, jockeys, everyone has been greatly affected as a result of it,” Mr Biggs said. “It’s a problem with the community clubs that go out of their way, all the officials or volunteers that go out of their way to put on a function for the local people, the biggest function the town has all year. “It’s the sort of thing that drives these volunteers out of our industry and we can’t afford to lose these sort of people.” The cup has been completely abandoned, with no plans to re-schedule it for this year. Shire of Mingenew CEO Matt Fanning said it was a disappointing outcome for the community. “We’re very disappointed … it’s very disappointing for the turf club who spend a lot, a lot of time preparing for their annual event, and to have the races called off after one race, it’s pretty disappointing,” he said. The cup is one of just two major events that the shire holds each year. It is considered crucial for driving the local economy and there are fears the cancellation could hurt interest going forward. “We only have two large events, we have the races then we have the Expo, and they’re the only two large events we host in the Shire of Mingenew,” Mr Fanning said. “So to have this event disrupted the way it has been, even though it had great attendance I understand, but it could be the flow-on effect for future events, people not turning up in the future, which could be a risk for the event.” With the amount of confusion surrounding the incident, Mr Fanning said the council would strive to find out how the closure occurred and look at taking preventative measures for the future. “We will be having discussions about the management of the race track, we’ve gone and had a look at the track. In our opinion it doesn’t look that bad, but we need to get the devil in the detail,” he said. “This issues never occurred previously in the whole time that the turf club has been operation, so yeah it’s very disappointing. “I just think we need to wait and see the wash up of what the issues really specifically were so we can look into how we prevent them.” The Country Racing Association will be holding a meeting on April 5.