Flemington spared from floods just a fortnight out from Cup Week
Flemington appeared to dodge a bullet with regard to the swirling floodwaters of the Maribyrnong River yesterday, partly thanks to its 3.5-kilometre flood wall.
Social media lit up yesterday morning with aerial shots of waters covering areas at the southern flank of the course, beside the turning out of the back straight near the 1400-metre start, after the river burst its banks on both sides.
While this sparked fears of possible disruption to the Melbourne Cup carnival starting in two weeks, as the river peaked around 10.30am and subsided, alarm bells faded.
Floodwaters did reach the 2.5-metre high flood mitigation wall – completed by the VRC in 2007 – reaching to three-quarters of its height in some parts. Water also submerged limited outer sections of the course precinct including the old stripping sheds by the turn out of the home straight.
But while the wall’s construction caused consternation among some neighbours – who feared it would force any floodwaters into nearby residential areas – by yesterday afternoon it appeared to have served its purpose of protecting the course. As waters rose beside the course in the morning, behind the wall a scheduled series of jump-outs was completed, albeit shifted to the Polytrack due to earlier rainfall.
Flemington trainer Mike Moroney, based at lower-lying areas on the southern side of the course around the 1400-metre mark, said parts of his stables suffered low-level flooding. This forced some horses to be moved to higher boxes – including Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) starter Chapada (Bullet Train) – and meant pumps had to be brought in.
“Our stable’s the first one to flood normally,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News. “We started having some trouble from about 10 o’clock onwards with water, so we got a pump and pumped it back out.
“But the water got higher and got about three-quarters of the way up the wall, probably to about seven or eight feet high, and water started to seep through a bit. We’ve got two or three boxes we had to move horses out of, including Chapada.
“The water started subsiding and had gone down a fair bit by 4pm. But we won’t be taking any chances. The VRC has got a guy there with a pump, and he’ll stay all night.”
Fellow Flemington trainer Troy Corstens, who posted videos of the flooding abutting the wall, said there was no panic inside the course.
“Not really. We were behind the wall, so it was fine,” he said.
“The rising waters all around Flemington are diabolical, but inside Flemington we have no issues whatsoever.
“Apparently the year I was born – 1974 – was the last time it broke the banks on this side of the river. I’ve seen it break on the west side, but not this side.
“The Maribyrnong is a tidal river, so it’ll go back up again about 6pm, but you wouldn’t expect it to be as high as this morning.
“The [first two] jump-outs got moved to the Poly, but we’ve been told gallops will be back on the inside grass tomorrow morning, so back to normal. We’re very lucky Flemington’s such a great draining track.”
Flemington was chosen as an ideal site for a racetrack in 1840 as a flat, alluvial plain beside what was then simply called the Salt Water River. But its proximity to the waterway has caused issues.
The course was submerged in September, 1906, and more lately during the devastating floods of May, 1974. The river has burst its banks at least eight times since then, but in a first serious test of the wall since its construction, this is one Maribyrnong trial the old course appears to have won.