The current scratching time for Moonee Valley night meetings (10am) has been amended to the scratching time for day meetings (7.30am).
This will come into effect for the meeting on Friday 11 February. The ATA have been consulted on this proposal and support the change.
RVL consider the benefits for trainers of this change to be:
> Provides consistency across the nomination, acceptance and scratching process (12pm nominations, 9am acceptances, 7.30am scratching time)
> Trainers that have a horse in both the day and night meeting will be able to make a decision where to run based on knowledge of final scratchings. There have been occasions when a trainer has scratched at the day meeting hoping to get a run at night and ended up missing out on both. Under this change this shouldn’t happen again
> Surety of the composition of the field means speed maps can be finalised, speed of races ascertained, tactical matters can be established by trainer, jockey, jockey managers, stable staff 2-1/2 hours before the current 10am deadline
> Trainers travelling long distances can finalise travel plans a lot earlier
> Emergency acceptors (especially those travelling long distances) will know they have a run 2.5 hours earlier
