THE 2025 Mindarie-Halidon Cup Day meeting has been moved – from September to the potentially more crowd-friendly October – to allow the club time to restore its track following damaging recent weather events.
The enduring drought, plus three days of strong winds – which hit before recent rains – saw a significant volume of dry, sandy soil deposited along approximately 300 metres of the track.
The soil inhibited that stretch’s natural growth and altered its surface, leaving the track unlikely to be ready in time for the meeting’s original September 14 date.
However, Racing SA and the club have joined forced to take a “proactive” approach to the scenario, rescheduling the meeting to Sunday, October 19.
Club volunteers have moved the sand and have already began preparations for the new date, including communicating with members and sponsors.
“We couldn’t be sure the track would recover in time for a meeting on September 14, so with Racing SA we made the decision to shift to October,” said club president Geoff Redden.
“The last thing we wanted was a late cancellation of the meeting, so we’re grateful our big day could slot into this new date.
“Naturally, we apologise for any inconvenience to anyone, but likewise we also hope everyone who was intending to go on September 14 can be there on October 19.”
Mr Redden said the decision “was not taken lightly”, but was “clearly the sensible choice”.
Racing SA’s Adelaide-based track staff inspected the Halidon course in recent days ahead of the joint decision. Mr Redden said early feedback from industry participants had been positive.
“Firstly, we’ve been heartened by the support and efforts of Racing SA, who have been great,” he said.
“And Racing SA has spoken to a couple of prominent metropolitan trainers who also supported the decision and said they’ll be there on October 19.
“We’re now working towards that new date and are encouraging all our regular racegoers to attend.”
The new date is “smack bang” in the middle of the nation’s spring racing carnival and Mr Redden said the likelihood of slightly warmer weather could be a silver lining to the rescheduling.
“No guarantees of course, but there’s a better chance of ideal weather conditions, deeper into spring,” he said.
“And the new date moves us further away from the Riverland Football League grand finals (on September 13), plus other winter sport finals, and the Riverland Field Days (September 12-13).”
Mr Redden said severe dust storms several weeks ago led to the sand drift.
“We had something like this once before, but never as severe as this,” he said.
“There were two days in a row of severe dust storms, then another one, about three or four days later.
“That sand that was dumped on the racing surfaced stopped the regular growth underneath.”
Racing SA praised the Mindarie-Halidon Racing Club’s efforts to remediate the affected area.
“Their hard work and co-ordination have (already) shown promising progress, highlighting the community’s commitment to restoring the track for the upcoming cup meeting,” Racing SA said.
“Along with the club and its volunteers, Racing SA appreciates the patience and support of everyone involved.”
Despite the rescheduling, the club will still conduct its first ever Racing SA official trials, which were originally set down for September 29. Regarded as a coup for the club, strengthening its position within the SA racing landscape, the trials will now be held sometime after the cup meeting.
The latest weather-enforced change continues a run of bad luck for the club, which was forced into a race-day cancellation of its 2023 meeting, after a freak irrigation leak on the eve of the meeting. Last year’s meeting went ahead as planned, with a bumper turnout to the club’s Halidon racecourse.
The club has forged ahead with multiple infrastructure improvements over the past two years, aimed at making the race-day experience better for both industry participants and spectators.
This year’s meeting will again offer over $150,000 in prizemoney, including the $40,000 Mindarie-Halidon Cup, to be run over 1800 metres.