The twilight race meeting scheduled for Horsham on Tuesday 19 January has been cancelled and the twilight meeting for Geelong on the same day has been moved to morning due to predicted extreme hot weather conditions.

The decision on whether to proceed with Tuesday’s Shepparton night meeting will be made by 8:30am tomorrow morning.

Under Greyhound Racing Victoria’s (GRV) recently reviewed Hot Weather Policy, greyhound racing or trialling cannot be conducted if the temperature exceeds 38 degrees.

The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted peak temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius for Horsham and 38 degrees for Geelong on Tuesday. The peak temperature for Geelong is forecast to be reached after 2:00pm tomorrow, meaning the morning meeting can be completed before it gets too hot.

The safety and welfare of greyhounds is of paramount concern for GRV in assessing whether a race meeting or individual races on a program should proceed, be delayed or abandoned in hot weather conditions.

Decisions to cancel meetings are made after careful consideration and consultation with the weather bureau and also take into account the predicted temperature for travel times to and from the venue as well as at the track.