Wettest West Coast Races In 50 Years

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28162, 28 December 1956, Page 6

Wettest West Coast Races In 50 Years

O'rom Our Own Reporter)

WESTPORT, December 27. In atrocious weather —said to be the worst for any West Coast race meeting in the last 50 years —the Westport Trotting Club held the second day of its summer meeting here today. Yesterday when the first day of the meeting was held conditions were bad enough. It rained I steadily, but not very heavily. But today, it was an incessant downpour. Nothing less. | The courage of the horses and ; their drivers and the optimism of the small crowd of investors who tried to pick the winners were remarkable. The track was almost completely under water in places and drivers had hair-raising experiences, especially when racing on the turns which had been churned into soupy mud. The squelching sound the horses made could be heard in the stands. Water and mud flew up in a cascade as the horses ran.

It was amazing there were no accidents but the drivers were so careful in negotiating the rainsodden track that the slowest times for many years were recorded.

Scratchings were numerous and it was almost impossible to distinguish horses and drivers in the back straight. Termed by one visitor the “trotting aquacade” it was the most disastrous meeting ever held by the Westport Club.