Gavin Smith was the big winner in the results, but the wind was just as dominant at the harness racing meeting at Timaru on Sunday.
Forecast gusts arrived just before the running of the first and really got going as the horses were heading out onto the track for race four.
Commentator Matt Cross described the wind as brutal as it lashed the Phar Lap Raceway.
Race four started more than seven minutes late because of debris blowing around the track and there was more than an hour gap between races four and five as the meeting was delayed due to extreme winds.
There were some question marks around whether the meeting would proceed because of poor visibility as dust and debris made it almost impossible to see the opposite side of the track.
Due to the strength of the winds, the mobile gate was not used for the remainder of the mobile starts with rolling starts in operation for safety reasons after the delay.
Smith started the day's wins with a front running drive on hot pot Wrongly Accused for Phil Burrows and used similar tactics in the following race with the Sam Smolenski trained Don Pierre.
Smith went on to cap a near perfect day by driving his own runners October Rain and Tangos Delight to victory.
Mat Kermeen
Reproduced with the permission of Stuff NZ – Check site here