04 December 2020 | Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing
The first of seven meetings for the King Island Racing Club will be held this Saturday afternoon from 12:45.
Five thoroughbred races and two harness events make up the seven-race card on Ladies And Tradies Race day after a successful trial session last week.
Several leading jockeys from mainland Tasmania are making the trip across on Saturday including David Pires, Ismail Toker, Kyle Maskiell and Mehmet Ulucinar.
While Jessie Philpot, Randy Tan and Juana Andreou will make will also attend from Victoria for the first meeting.
Club President Audrey Hamer explained the first meeting had been pushed back to allow seven days between the opening of borders between Tasmania and Victoria.
“We couldn’t get enough Jockeys from Tasmania, as they wouldn’t commit,” said Audrey.
The two harness events have attracted a high number of entries with 18 horses contesting two races, and with over 20 pacers on the Island a few will miss out on runs in coming weeks.
“Last year we only ended up with about 10 pacers, and I think there are about 23 horses here this season, we can only have 10 in a standing start race and nine in mobile, said Audrey.
Driver Adrian Collins has won the past two King Island Pacing Cups and he will be joined on the track by Dylan Ford, Tim Yole and Wade Rattray on Saturday, to take on local drivers Peter and James Jakowenko, Wayne Hamer, Shane Keeler, Paul Williams and his son Kayleb, who will have his first drive on Saturday.
With the borders back open, a number of tourists have been travelling to the Island and they are expected to attend many of the race days across the summer months as they have in the past.
“In the past, we got a lot of people from Victoria come down for a few days and play the golf courses and stay on for the races,” explained the club president, with those that have attended a race day giving a raving review on the local hospitality.
The remaining six race dates for the King Island Race Club are;
•12/12/20 King Island Beef Day,
•26/12/20 Boxing Day,
•2/01/20 Cup Day,
•9/01/20 King Island Recreational Day,
•23/01/20 Maritime Day,
•30/01/20 Vortex Fly-In Day.
The club has taken a hit with several sponsors pulling out this season as a result of the impacts to their business through Covid-19. For those that are considering sponsoring the club they are happy to tailor a package to suit their needs and are encouraged to contact the club.
Racing on King Island commenced on 1 January 1882 with harness racing starting in 1896.
For more information on the K.I.R.C, and details on how to get to the Island, check out the club’s website at www.kingislandracingclub.com.
The meetings are unfortunately unable to be live streamed on TasracingTV however replays of all races are available on the Tasracing website
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