Officials had been keen to push on with the eight-race meeting, using the Racing NSW heat policy, but just minutes after Randwick was pushed back to Monday, Kembla Grange was called off. 

Temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees celsius and beyond in Sydney and parts of the Illawarra on Saturday.

“Racing NSW believes that animal welfare and the welfare of the participants should be the only consideration when making these decisions,” Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said.

Under the heat policy, an additional veterinarian will be on hand ice machines and extra hoses at the mounting enclosure and horse stalls.

The pre-race parade in the mounting yard is also shortened to minimise any heat stress on the horses or jockeys. The riders can apply to stewards to ride 0.5 of a kilogram overweight, so they can take on extra fluids to stay hydrated.

However, officials made the late decision to abandon the meeting. 

The track was upgraded from a Heavy 10 – after this week’s rain – to a Heavy 8 on Friday and was expected to improve further in Saturday’s scorching conditions.

It denies the Godolphin stable the opportunity for Alizee to have its start, after being set to run in the first race of the day, a 1000m maiden. 

Alizee comes from the same bloodline as Astern and Mogador.