Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) has announced that the 2010 jumps racing season will commence on Saturday, 17 April at Hamilton, 11 days later than originally planned, owing to delays in constructing the new obstacle.

Two of the three races programmed for Warrnambool on 6 April have been transferred to Hamilton, who will now host four jumps races over their two-day Cup Carnival on 17 and 18 April. Three flat races will fill the gaps left on the 6 April meeting at Warrnambool.

“As outlined when launching the 2010 jumps racing program, the 6 April start date was reliant upon there being no delays in the design, construction and trialling of the new obstacle,” RVL Chief Executive, Rob Hines, explained.

“As it stands, the start of the jumps season will be delayed until 17 April at Hamilton owing to delays in designing and constructing the new obstacle, however only one jumps race will be lost from the 2010 program.

“We have made a commitment to the AJRA that we will implement their required changes to the obstacles prior to the 2010 season and they are supportive of this minor delay.”

RVL also announced that it has converted eight flat races to highweights in March, with a further 19 allocated between April and August.

“This takes the total number of highweights and jumps races programmed from December 2009 to August 2010 to 107 which includes 44 highweights and 63 jumps races,” Hines said.

“Highweights provide an opportunity for jumps horses and jockeys to earn additional prizemoney and in the short term, improve their fitness ahead of the jumps season.”

Picture: Quentin Lang