Sport
8 February, 2026
SOCIAL SWIPERS DON’T GET IT, SAYS VETERAN VET
THE penetrating summer sun sent punters and patrons escaping to the air-conditioned comfort of Donaldson Park or sheltering in the trackside shade.
By mid-afternoon at the Wedderburn Harness Racing Club’s cup meeting, hydration had become paramount for humans working up a sweat in 41O heat.
There had been non-race-
goers calling for the club’s once a year meeting on the Australia Day weekend to be abandoned, rescheduled or held at a later or earlier time.
No racing in hot weather or on a total fire ban day, they chimed.
Bumkin, came the informed retort from veteran course veterinarian Greg Hargreaves, standing at the track gate as horses headed to the start and returned after passing the finishing post.
The animal doctor who has officiated at Wedderburn since 1993 and at another 20 country tracks was armed with his instrument of assessment, the wet bulb globe measuring actual temperatures and conditions for horses on the track.
A couple of races into the cup meeting Dr Hargreave’s bulb was showing 27O.
“It’s the best measure to thermal stress. It would need to be 33O for it to be an issue,” he said.
Hargreaves said readings varied throughout a race meeting - wind picks up, the angle of the sun and cloud cover among the factors. And then there’s humidity. Hargeaves says horses can be prodigious sweaters but remarked as drivers steered their horses off track: “No sweat ... it’s already evaporated”.
Hargreaves said horses were desert animals. “They are supreme athletes.
There veteran vet’s views and methodology on race conditions for horses was backed by long-time trainer and former administrator, Inglewood’s Trevor Ralph.
“There are well-based protocols in place. We don’t want to do any-thing that risks the horse. We all love our horses, spend a lot of time and money just to get to the races. You don’t want to jeopardise that.
“We want the horses to race again the next week and the next,” Ralph said.
Hargreaves said: “I have officiated at race meetings where the temperature has reached 47° on several occasions - specifically at Charlton.”
In his research paper presented at an international conference a decade ago, Hargreaves said race meetings should only be abandoned or postponed on catastrophic fire danger days.
But on other days, there is more than the temperature that governs whether horses race.
Club secretary Tom Nisbet said Harness Racing Victoria had reviewed detailed weather data and consulted its own veterinarians before giving the go-ahead to the Wedderburn cup meeting.
Scratchings for most races on the eight-event card were at par. Owners and trainers can withdraw under HRV heat protocols - the emperature is above 38O - and a handful did skip the final three races.
Hargreaves said that while there was online comment about one harness racing meeting on a hot day some years ago, he had found no thermal load issues in horses after races.
“Equine athletes are able to cope with the heat generated competing in a race,” he said. “It also explains my observation of horses where I live, standing in direct sunlight on days of greater than 40O and low humidity without any sign of discomfort.”
Ralph said: “Everyone wants to look after their horses.”