Rain forces phantom meet

West Kimberley Turf Club president Rod Giblett was devastated when stewards abandoned the race meeting at Derby last Saturday.

After the club’s meeting set down for June 8 had to be called off, the committee worked overtime to have everything in order for last week’s meeting but rain during the week again added to their woes.

They finally thought everything was in order and with racegoers streaming through the gates, horses, jockeys and trainers on course, all looked ready for an entertaining afternoon of racing until the stewards carried out their track inspection.

Steward-in-charge Harold Taylor was not happy with some sections of the track, which had soft patches following the rain, and held a further inspection with jockeys and trainers.

All were in agreement certain sections of the track were unsafe for racing. Mr Taylor said he had no option but to abandon the meeting.

A shell-shocked Mr Giblett, who took over the reins at Derby only this season, apologised to racegoers for the inconvenience and invited them to stay on for a phantom meeting.

The tote remained open for patrons to bet on meetings all over Australia and the two-up quickly came into play.

“I just felt gutted when the stewards called the meeting off,” Mr Giblett said.

“I would sincerely like to thank all those people who stayed behind for supporting the club and hope to see them all back for our cup meeting in three weeks.”