With nearly 100 entrants poised to make the most of one of Gilgandra's biggest days of racing, there wasn't much that could dampen the spirits of the racing community ahead of the annual Gilgandra Cup.
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However, extreme heat and soaring temperatures might again impact the fortunes of the Central West's trainers and jockeys.
The Sunday, January 5 feature race, and the surrounding eight race card are now in doubt after an extreme heat warning was handed down by Racing NSW.
The field currently features the likes of the Peter Stanley trained The Long Run, whose recent winning form would have seen the Narromine trained horse searching for a third straight win in the cup, as well as last year's winner Cheryl Crockett's Mackellars Love and local hopeful Bryan Dixon.
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Temperatures are forecast to hit 43 degrees on Sunday afternoon and Racing NSW have made it clear that if there isn't a drop in severity ahead of the fixture, the planned day of racing won't go ahead.
If the Cup is knocked back, it would make it the latest in a slate of racing fixtures that have been forced to move, cancel or be postponed in response to the severe weather conditions impacting the state.
A statement made by Racing NSW early on Friday outlined their concerns, alongside an announcement that racing in Tumut, Wyong and Moruya on the weekend had already been impacted.
"With the forecast temperature of 43 degrees for Gilgandra, please note Racing NSW will continue to monitor the forecast in the lead-up to the meeting," the statement read.
"Should the forecast remain at 43 degrees, the meeting will not proceed and an alternative date will be identified for the Gilgandra Cup."
"Should the meeting proceed with a more favourable forecast, Level 2 of the Hot Weather Policy will be invoked."
Gilgandra Jockey Club president Andrew Schier had been in talks with Racing NSW about the announcement and had hoped to have an answer for the race's future on Friday evening, but that will now have to wait.
"I have been talking to Racing NSW and Todd Smith and we're trying to get an announcement in place as soon as possible so we know what's going on."
A decision wether or not the race day will proceed will now be made on Saturday morning at 8am.
Although the meeting won't be cancelled in either event, a change of date will be necessary if the races are postponed.
As of publication time, no announcements had been made concerning alternates.