There was less than one degree of separation between racing and not racing at Randwick on Saturday as temperatures in Sydney hovered around the 40 degree mark.Officials using the wet bulb method which also measures humidity say it climbed to 34.1 at Randwick, 0.9 of a degree from what is considered dangerous."It is the highest measurement since we have used the wet bulb and 35 degrees is when we start seriously considering whether racing should go ahead," chief steward Ray Murrihy said."That mea

There was less than one degree of separation between racing and not racing at Randwick on Saturday as temperatures in Sydney hovered around the 40 degree mark.

Officials using the wet bulb method which also measures humidity say it climbed to 34.1 at Randwick, 0.9 of a degree from what is considered dangerous.

"It is the highest measurement since we have used the wet bulb and 35 degrees is when we start seriously considering whether racing should go ahead," chief steward Ray Murrihy said.

"That measurement was before the first race but then it came down a little and we went ahead.

"It is certainly the hottest day I can remember at Randwick."

One who was glad the meeting went ahead was Melbourne visitor Ross McDonald, trainer of the hottest horse in the country, Weekend Hussler, who resumes in next week's Lightning Stakes.

McDonald was in Sydney to supervise Rolling Stock and Needlebox, both trained by his son Clinton.

Rolling Stock duly delivered in the Chinese New Year Handicap (1400m) but Needlebox couldn't maintain the standard and finished eighth in the Danewin Handicap (1800m) won by Lyncean Academy.

Nash Rawiller drove Rolling Stock ($6) straight to the front while $2.10 favourite Falling In Love missed the start and settled down second last of the seven runners.

Rolling Stock maintained her tempo and defied attempts to run her down, going on to beat Blood Angel ($4.80) by 1-1/4 lengths with Falling In Love making ground late to finish another half-length away third.

McDonald was in Sydney two weeks ago with the same pair when Needlebox won and Rolling Stock finished third.

"These restricted races are worth a lot of money and it's great to come up here and collect it," McDonald said.

"It wasn't necessarily the intention for Rolling Stock to lead today but that's the way it turned out and she kept on going."

McDonald said he was extremely happy with Australian champion Weekend Hussler ahead of his clash with Apache Cat in the Lightning.

"I don't know what else is going to run but my horse is good, couldn't be better," he said.

The plan is to run Weekend Hussler in the Lightning followed by the Australia Stakes and the Futurity Stakes ahead of a trip to Dubai and then Hong Kong.

The Futurity, the Dubai Duty Free and the Champions Mile in Hong Kong Mile are part of the Asian Mile Challenge which has more than $US10 million on offer in bonuses for the winners of two or more races which also encompasses the Yakuda Kinnen in Japan.