Australia: Rain postpones Golden Slipper Stakes, Sydney autumn racing carnival

The Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes, and four other races at that level, were postponed a week after excessive rain forced the cancellation of an all-stakes program Saturday at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia.

Four other top-level Saturday programs at Rosehill Gardens and Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney over the next month have been postponed one week as a result, meaning the five-Saturday Sydney autumn racing carnival will conclude April 24 instead of April 17.

Race meetings at smaller venues in the state of New South Wales in the next few days have been postponed or abandoned.

Monday, a program scheduled at Goulburn Racecourse has been canceled and transferred to Queanbeyan. A seven-race program has been added to the schedule at Tamworth Racecourse on Monday.

The Tamworth program is led by a seven-furlong handicap for fillies and mares that drew a field of 10. Racing begins at 10:25 p.m. Eastern, or 7:25 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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The seven-furlong handicap is led by the 6-year-old mare Sugar Baby who won a six-furlong handicap from the front at Coffs Harbour on heavy turf on March 8. The turf is rated soft for Monday’s program.

Sugar Baby ended an 11-race losing streak since last April at Coffs Harbour and will have her Tamworth debut on Monday.

Chambermaid, a winner of 4 of 17 starts will have her second race after a six-month layoff, having finished fifth at 30-1 against a tougher field in her 2021 debut in a seven-furlong handicap against males at Tamworth on March 7. Chambermaid was fifth throughout, beaten 2 3/4 lengths.

A 5-year-old mare, Chambermaid won her final two starts of 2020 in one-mile handicaps in September and October.