23-04-2025
Up to 25mm of rain forecast for The Valley leading up to Saturday's meeting
Mother Nature has given The Valley track manager Tony Salisbury another hospital pass leading into Saturday's nine-race card.
The Valley copped plenty of stick from punters and participants for the way it raced at last month's William Reid Stakes meeting, many suggesting the track heavily favoured runners near the inside rail.
Rain on the eve of the meeting caused the track to race like a heavy track on the day.
The weather bureau has forecast up to 25mm of rain on Friday after weeks of unseasonal warm and dry weather in Melbourne.
'You wouldn't read about it would you?' Salisbury said.
'It's been 30 degrees and 26 degrees leading up to Easter and on Friday night at midnight, the bottom falls out of the sky.'
Salisbury said he analysed the way The Valley track raced on the day, noting horses could run on when circumstances allowed, including Jimmysstar, who charged home for third in the William Reid Stakes before saluting in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes in Sydney last Saturday.
'As bad a wrap as the track got, it stood up quite well and all of the horses came out of it well,' Salisbury said.
He said specialist testing of The Valley surface revealed other issues that contributed to the track's performance.
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'We had the 12mm (on the Friday) but it was the worst case scenario,' Salisbury said.
'We knew the track wasn't 100 per cent with the roots and there were some things that caused that.
'We got some testing done post William Reid day and found several diseases within the grass canopy and root zone.'
The Valley's track staff immediately got to work to eradicate the diseases from the affected areas of the course while a four-week break between meetings with mostly fine weather also helped the track recover.
Salisbury walks the track twice a day and said he had been amazed at The Valley's recovery from the issues that plagued the William Reid Stakes meeting.
Schwarz was utterly brilliant in the William Reid Stakes, finding the lead from the outset & pounding his opposition into the turf ðŸ'«
Where to next for @JohnOSheaRacing 's Group 1 winning son of Zoustar?
— (@Racing) March 22, 2025
'We've adjusted those issues and the track itself looks 10 times better than it did leading into the William Reid, plus a break of four weeks off with no racing gave us some opportunities to do some remedial works that we don't otherwise get a chance to do with seven meetings in seven weeks,' Salisbury said.
'Those remedial works after the William Reid took about a week and a half for the guys to get around and do those repairs.
'The taking care of those diseases and the recovery time of the track has taken about two-and-a-half to three weeks.
'There's much thicker canopy of grass on the track. I've cut it at four inches and will just let it grow out for the rest of the week.'
Hosting a nine-race card rather than William Reid Stakes Day's 11-race meeting will also help the track stand up to Saturday's meeting.
