As disappointing as it was to have Wellington's biggest meeting of the year cancelled for a second time in a matter of days, race club secretary Dale Jones was keeping things in perspective on Tuesday.
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Jones was a busy man after it was confirmed early on Tuesday morning the rescheduled Wellington Boot meeting wouldn't go ahead.
Following an inspection of the track, Racing NSW stewards declared sections of the Wellington surface unsuitable for racing following persistent rain over a number of days.
A dejected Jones stated it was again the right decision, after the showcase meeting had originally been postponed on Sunday due the state of the track.
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"While it's extremely disappointing we'll be back bigger and better next year. This is only the first time in 41 years the Boot has had to be cancelled," Jones said as rain continued throughout Tuesday morning.
"When you put things in perspective it's really nothing when you look at people in places like Lismore who are copping it again. You can see the suffering the people in those flood areas are going through and this is just a sporting event.
"It's disappointing for us but it's not the end of the world."
While the threat of rain always loomed last week, there was a huge amount of excitement in Wellington in the days leading up to the races.
The Boot carnival is the biggest sporting event and the biggest social event on the community calendar and a huge crowd was expected trackside.
Racing went ahead on a Heavy 9 track during Friday's first day of the carnival but the Sunday meeting was to be the main event as it was to be headlined by the $200,000 Wellington Boot but also featured the $100,000 Wellington Cup and $50,000 Wellington Town Plate.
"We know from the number of accommodation bookings in town and from seeing how busy all venues were on the weekend that we were in for a bumper meeting on Sunday," Jones added
"We were expecting a crowd of at least 3000 and I think we would have easily achieved that."
Jones estimated there was roughly 50 phone calls he was making on Tuesday morning after the cancellation with everyone from trainers, to vets and bar staff having to be notified of the decision.
Racing NSW declared the meeting postponed on Tuesday but new race date was announced at the time of print.
Jones felt unlikely the meeting would be given a third date. Instead, he was already looking forward to the next meetings at the track.
Racing will return on Saturday, April 23 while there's high hopes a meeting on Sunday, May 29 will be special.
"We're going to make that a big Fashions on the Field day," Jones said.
"Because our Fashions on the Field didn't go ahead at the Boot, the organiser from Sydney wants to put one on.
"We had more than $6000 in prizes on offer for the fashions and I don't think anywhere outside the metropolitan area goes near that.
"We're urging everyone to come along then and have a great day and all those people who were considering entering Fashions on the Field on Boot day to come along at the end of May and we'll make a big day of it."
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