Damelli shines on Cox Plate Day
Lightning in the area brought an early halt to Cox Plate Day at Morphettville on Saturday, but not before the filly Damelli stormed home for an impressive 1050m victory.
After just three races had been completed, stewards were forced to call off the remaining six events of the nine-race card when lightning struck soon after Damelli’s win in the Maiden Plate.
An initial 30-minute delay was announced following the first strike, but as the storm continued to roll through and lightning persisted, further delays became inevitable.
By 3pm local time, stewards made the call to officially abandon the meeting.
Racing SA on Monday announced changes to this Saturday’s meeting at Morphettville following last Saturday’s postponement.
For this Saturday’s race meeting at Morphettville, the following amendments have been made:
- Race 1 – was a Benchmark 78 Handicap over 1100m and now will be a Benchmark 82 Handicap over 1100m
- Race 6 – was a Benchmark 66 Handicap over 1800m and now will be a Benchmark 68 Handicap over 1800m
- Race 7 – was a 4UP Rating 0-64 Handicap over 1050m and now will be 4UP Benchmark 64 Handicap over 1050m
- Race 8 – was Rating 0-62 Handicap over 1600m and now will be a Rating 0-64 Handicap over 1600m.
- Race 10 – there was also a race added to the card, and will be a Rating 0-64 Handicap over 2000m.
“Racing SA also wishes to advise Races 4 to 9 from Saturday, 25 October, have been officially abandoned, and Racing SA’s Abandoned Race Meeting Policy has been enacted for affected participants,” the statement read.
Only three races were run before the Cox Plate Day meeting at Morphettville was cut short, but the action on track still produced some standout performances.
Blandford Baron and Arugamama both delivered convincing front-running victories, while Damelli produced an eye-catching effort to deny her stablemate Act Natural.
