Northern Southland 10 January
Summer twilight racing at Ascot Park Raceway in Invercargill with the Northern Southland Trotting Club is the go on Thursday 10 January with the House Of Travel Lakers Summer Cup the feature event along with several other quality harness races.
A losing ticket draw after Race 6 will see one lucky punter win a $250 betting voucher with an opportunity for that winner to go on and win a $1000 betting voucher at the club’s final meeting later in the season.
Owners are welcome in the Alabar Owners Room and one owner will go in the club’s season long competition with three great prizes up for grabs.
Admission is free and the first race is timed for 3.00pm.
Nelson 11 and 13 January
GETTING IN THE GATE
As it is a InterIslander Summer Festival race meeting there will be a gate charge so make sure you have your licence handy to get in the gate. We will be sending all your owners a text/email so they can show that at the gate to get in.
The big news is we have increased stakes from what they were last summer. The stake for the Golden Edge Nelson Cup is now $14,000 and the Handicap Trot has increased to $9,000.
The forecast is for fine weather so make sure you come on up and enjoy some Nelson hospitality.
STAKE INCREASE
As mentioned above, stakes have increased for this race meeting, from last summer. We couldn’t do this without the continued support of all our sponsors – we are most thankful!
Nelson Pine Industries & Golden Edge are again sponsoring our Prelude and the Nelson Cup which we are excited to announce will be for stakes of $10,000 and $14,000 respectively. So bring your R60 plus pacer to Nelson and race for $24,000 in stake money!
FOOD & BEVERAGES
Food and drink will be available in the Drivers Room for all trainers, drivers and their staff.
A coffee cart will be outside the numbers room in the stabling area. Food and drink will also be available to purchase in the bar and at the food and drink stalls.
BBQ ON US IN THE BIRDCAGE
We would like to invite all trainers, drivers, staff and owners to attend a BBQ on Thursday 10th January in the Birdcage from 5 -7 pm. The club are putting this on in recognition of your continued support of our race meeting. No need to rush off and find yourself dinner – come and join us for a bite and a beverage. We will again be running some raffles so bring a few coins.
BIG BREAKFAST
Breakfast will be again available from 7 am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings at the OTB rooms. A huge thank you to the OTB members who make this happen at each of our race meetings!!
CAMPING
The trainers camp is available again this year for those wishing to stay on course. For more information contact Kristie 0274118608
JUNIOR DRIVERS
The top point scoring junior driver over the two days will receive a $250 Z voucher. This is kindly being donated by our good friends David & Jan Birdling Security Consultants. A big thank you to them and a nice reward for our juniors who make the trip North to Nelson!!
BEST PRESENTED HORSE
The Best Presented Horse in each race will receive a bag of Dunstan Speedfeed or Equifibre Lucerne Pro – a big thanks to Dunstan Horsefeeds!!
THE DUNSTAN DOUBLE
Dunstan continue their growing association with Harness Racing by offering the “DUNSTAN DOUBLE”. Any individual horse competing over the two days that completes a “double of wins” will win their trainer five bags of feed from the Dunstan or Equifibre range.
INTERISLANDER SUMMER FESTIVAL SELECTIONS
This year we will be asking drivers of the selected horse in each race to wear a lime green helmet cover.
Cambridge Raceway 11 January – Club to mark Centenary in style
A great night of summer racing with plenty of atmosphere promises to entertain racegoers attending Cambridge Raceway’s January 11 meeting next year, which will mark the centenary of the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Harness Incorporated racing club.
Established in 1919, the club has become an integral part of the Cambridge community. Not only has it become the epicenter for racing in the region, its facilities have also been widely utilised, including as a training camp for the New Zealand military during World War II.
To mark the milestone, the club plans to celebrate in style with the night taking on a 1920’s Great Gatsby and Peaky Blinders theme and racegoers are encouraged to dress-up accordingly.
“We want to make a really big night of the centenary meeting,” Cambridge Raceway chief executive Dave Branch said.
“It’s all going to be dress-up, the whole place will be decked out in a 1920’s theme.
“We want to create a great atmosphere and pack the grass verge out along the front of the grandstand with hospitality, the Skyline Lounge will also be open, the Alf Walsh Lounge will take on a speakeasy vibe for the night and we will also have our Colts and Fillies Club to entertain the children.
“We’re not only celebrating racing at Cambridge but also the past 100 years of the Cambridge township and we’re involving the Cambridge Community in the promotions and the race night.
“There will be a 1920s themed window dressing competition in the lead up to the event.”
The night will also offer a great card of racing, including the Gr.2 Waikato Flying Mile (1609m) and the Gr.3 Cambridge Trotters Flying Stakes (1700m), which have been specifically moved to mark the celebration.
“Traditionally they have been on that earlier January meeting, but this will space it out a bit more from the Auckland (new year’s eve) meeting, so hopefully we will get a few of the better horses from the Auckland Cup (Gr.1, 3200m),” Branch said.
The Waikato Flying Mile has been a key race for the club, with its inaugural running in 1966, and plenty of quality graduates have gone on to perform at elite level.
“It’s always a race that has brought the crowds,” Branch said. “I remember Christian Cullen when he won the race, and going through the past winners it’s a pretty impressive roll of honour.”
Other notable winners include champion pacers Young Quinn, Luxury Liner and Christopher Vance, while recent winners include race record holder Adore Me (1.51.6) and current world-beater Lazarus.
Branch said there has been many highlights for the club in its 100 years, including the running of the Harness Jewels every second year since its inception, but the construction of the grandstand in the 1970s has been the club’s biggest achievement.
“The Jewels has definitely been a highlight, but building the grandstand has been the biggest highlight for the club,” Branch said.
“The Jewels this year has been the biggest highlight for myself as chief executive of the club and also retaining it for 2020. There has been a lot of learning from this year’s event, so we’re excited to see what we can offer in 2020.
“We have got a fairly new team at the raceway and everybody is keen and wanting to move the place forward, which is fantastic.”
The gates to Cambridge Raceway will open at 5pm on January 11, with racegoers encouraged to dress-up for the 1920’s theme.
For more information visit this page – Cambridge Raceway
Timaru Wednesday 16 January
Enjoy your holiday with a day’s racing at the Timaru HRC meeting at Phar Lap Raceway.
11 races First race start 12.20pm
Ensure you have done your holiday racing research to pick the winners in our quality race day fields
Watch and support our young people in the industry in the Junior Drivers race.
Children’s activities include colouring in competition, lucky numbers, kids quiz and kiddies castle.
Kapiti Coast Harness Racing Club Inc Update
Fantastic news Harness racing enthusiasts and participants. The Kapiti Coast Harness Racing Club can confirm that our 2019 Racing License has been recently granted by the NZ Racing Board for Friday 1st February and Sunday 3rd February to be held on the MAIN OUTSIDE TRACK of the Otaki Maori Race Course, Otaki. This is North Island GRASS TRACK harness racing at its very best. A successful galloping race meeting was held last Thursday on the Otaki Maori Race course and the track came through with ‘flying colours’ , after extensive drainage work and grass reseeding of the surface. By February 2019 we expect the grass track to offer a near “perfect” racing surface for all HARNESS participants.
The Club anticipates that stakes will be on a par with our 2018 meeting, being $9,000 per race , with the Wellington Trotting Cup run on the Friday with a stake of $12,000 and the Otaki Cup run on the Sunday for $12,000.[ These stakes were the highest of any North Island Grass track harness meeting in 2018]. There will be 10 races programmed each day.
The usual Kapiti hospitality will be on offer for all industry participants and owners. We welcome you all with open arms on the Kapiti Coast at Otaki Racecourse in early February 2019.
Chris Craddock
Vice President
Kapiti Coast Harness Racing Club Inc.
027 410 2420
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
