The winter blast hitting the South Island has forced the Forbury Park Trotting Club to postpone the meeting scheduled for tonight until Saturday afternoon.
The decision was made by club management in consultation with Harness Racing New Zealand and the New Zealand Racing Board, Forbury Park general manager Rodney Moore said.
''Given the unique weather situation, the club has put the safety of all horsemen and the horses and their connections first,'' he said.
The decision to postpone the meeting was made early yesterday afternoon to give everyone enough time to change their travelling arrangements.
That included rearranging flights for junior drivers competing in the heats of the New Zealand Junior Drivers' Championship.
Fields for Saturday's meeting remain the same but the race start times have been adjusted.
The meeting will start at 11.45am.
Deferring this week's meeting was a possibility HRNZ had discussed with the Forbury club as soon as a polar-like blast was predicted for the Otago region, HRNZ chief executive Edward Rennell said.
A back-up plan was arranged should snow arrive and, when it did, that plan was executed with the best interests of horses and of anyone attending the races in mind, he said.
The movement to a Saturday afternoon meeting had the major advantage of not having people and horses travelling home late at night, too, Rennell said.
In 2015, the Forbury Park club was also forced into abandoning one meeting and deferring another due to winter weather, he said.
In those cases, the track was flooded by rain before its June 4 meeting. That race day was abandoned and the June 11 meeting was transferred from a Thursday night to a Saturday afternoon and run at the Gore racecourse.
In 2013, snow caused a June meeting to be deferred from a Thursday night to a Saturday night.
Roxburgh trainer Geoff Knight, who is also vice-president of the Forbury Park club, has two horses racing at the meeting and he supported the club's decision to transfer the meeting to Saturday.
''It was a decision I supported because people and horse safety come first.
''There would be nothing worse than if a horse truck or a car slid off the road. It is not worth risking.
''If we hold it on Saturday there is not nearly as much risk.''
Holding the eight-race card in the prime-time Saturday afternoon racing slot on Trackside TV with the possibility of improved weather conditions could mean a windfall for the Forbury Park club, Knight said.
Christchurch Greyhound Racing Club secretary Tony Music rated his club's meeting at Addington today a 99% chance of running as programmed.
The Addington track had received a minimal amount of snow, which was quickly washed away and left the racing surface in good order yesterday, he said.
The meeting would only be cancelled or rescheduled if the Christchurch weather got drastically worse overnight, Music said.
As of last night the club had only received two weather related scratchings, both from Invercargill trainer Brett Conner who withdrew Storming Norm in race 2 and Sea Fever in race 10.
The New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club yesterday announced a stakes hike that will mean races at Addington will be run for a minimum stake of $10,000 next season.
All races contested during New Zealand Cup week have received a big boost and will now be run for a minimum of $25,000.
The club also said a ''significant number'' of races rated above the non-winners' grade would be run for from $13,499 to $14,400.
