🔒 🔒 Bathurst meetings moved and track proper shut amid safety concerns

A fall that left two jockeys in hospital has prompted the closure of a regional NSW racetrack amid rider-safety concerns.

Acting on advice from senior jockeys who regularly ride at Bathurst in the state’s central west, Racing NSW has ordered the course proper to be shut while it investigates options to address an ongoing problem on the home turn.

Apprentices Deon La Roux and Dale Cole were dislodged during an incident that also involved leading western districts rider Clayton Gallagher.

La Roux and Cole were taken to Orange Base Hospital, while Gallagher escaped with minor injuries.

Stewards reported that La Roux’s mount, Violet And Blue, became unbalanced and lost her footing at the 350-metre mark, triggering a chain reaction that also took down two other horses.

It was the second such incident at the bend this year, following a January fall that forced stewards to abandon the rest of the meeting.

Racing NSW’s Scott Kennedy said the next scheduled fixture would move to Orange, and Bathurst’s December meeting was also cancelled as the regulator examines possible remedial work.

“Next time we race there, we have to be very confident that it’s safe,” Kennedy told The Straight.

Consultants will assess the site and recommend the necessary changes to allow Racing NSW to determine the scale of the remedial project.

Kennedy said extensive work had already been undertaken before last Friday’s meeting, but the latest incident made it clear that further action was needed.

“It’s a quirky corner and there’s a slight negative camber, so they’re the two issues that we’re looking at,” he said.

While horses had slipped during the previous Bathurst meeting, the latest fall has intensified scrutiny of a turn Kennedy said had become increasingly hard to manage.

“It was always an odd corner. But certainly, it’s become more difficult for whatever reason,” he said.

Feedback from the NSW Jockeys Association suggested some riders were questioning whether they wanted to continue competing at the venue under the current conditions.

“They’re concerned by it,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said they could consider a model similar to the camber work undertaken at Gosford, although that project was designed primarily to improve the competitiveness of racing rather than address a safety issue.

“We’re hoping that we can do something to that corner to make it more navigable,” he said.

Any corrective measures will have to contend with the practicalities of replacing the surface. 

“It was always an odd corner. But certainly, it’s become more difficult for whatever reason” – Scott Kennedy

Bathurst uses cool-season grass, which isn’t readily available in commercial quantities and must be specially ordered, adding complexity to any work programme.

Creeks and neighbouring properties border the course, but Kennedy said the site’s constraints were not necessarily insurmountable. 

However, Racing NSW is seeking options it can deliver without committing immediately to a major rebuild.

“Nothing’s off the table, but we’re somewhat budget-conscious on everything,” he said.

Kennedy said the immediate priority was to understand what modifications could be made and how long they would take.

The course proper will also be shut for trackwork.

Located 200 kilometres west of Sydney, Bathurst offers many metropolitan stables, especially those based at Warwick Farm in the city’s outer suburbs, an entry point to country-level racing.