RQ prepared to cater for bumper numbers

Wednesday 8 April 2015, 2:04pm

Racing Queensland is willing to stage a mammoth day-night meeting at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday in an attempt to make up for a series of washed-out race cards in south east Queensland.

The Ipswich meeting set down for Wednesday became the 13th program in the region to be abandoned since the start of the year.

Another five meetings were called off after only a few races had run.

It has resulted in around $4 million in lost prize money and trainers who are desperate to get starts for their horses.

There are 11 races at Beaudesert on Thursday but RQ is prepared to stage an ever bigger card at the Sunshine Coast three days later.

Darren Condon, chief executive of RQ, said the Sunshine Coast had stood up well to recent racing and could handle a large volume of horses.

"If there are enough acceptances we will split races and run several at night if needed," he said.

"The only thing which might stop us doing that is if Sky Channel won't come to the party. But we are confident they will be able to handle a heavier workload."

Acceptances for the Sunshine Coast will be taken on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Toowoomba racetrack is expected to be ready for its stand-alone meeting on May 2.

The course has been closed for two months to allow it to recover in time for the winter racing.

– AAP

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