Fixture cancelled as destructive fires continue to wreak havoc on Australia

The destructive bushfires in Australia that have swept through New South Wales and Queensland have led to Thursday's Port Macquarie meeting being cancelled.

The fires, in which three people are reported to have died and 200 houses destroyed, have reached within nine miles of Sydney and on Wednesday racing authorities in New South Wales chose to call off the meeting.

Racing Queensland has opted to monitor the ongoing situation for Corbould Park on Saturday. Fires have been reported on parts of the Sunshine Coast but do not directly threaten the meeting at present, which is based near Little Mountain and Caloundra.

RQ's racing manager Simon Stout: "At this stage there is no danger to the racecourse and no problems with air quality. But as nobody can predict fires we are keeping a close watch for any change and obviously we would not be putting any participants or horses at risk."

Australian authorities expect conditions to worsen this week with a further fifty houses being damaged or destroyed on Tuesday and fresh emergencies taking place in Queensland.

The fires have led to trainers and stable staff risking their lives to protect their horses. Terry Evans told RSN Racing Pulse on Tuesday: "The horses were our main concern to start with, but towards the end of it on Friday afternoon, I did get a bit frightened for our lives. I had to jump into the car and run, it got that bad."

Trainers who intended to take runners to Port Macquarie were granted an extension to nominate for next week's Grafton and Taree meetings.

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