Christen Me winning the 2015 TAB Victoria Cup at Tabcorp Park Melton
Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) today announced the TAB Summer of Glory Carnival would be moved forward one week to avoid a clash with the New South Wales Harness Racing Club’s (NSWHRC) summer carnival.
Following NSWHRC’s announcement of its carnival dates, which created a clash between Miracle Mile qualification races at Menangle on Saturday February 13, 2016, and HRV’s Hunter Cup, HRV sought a solution.
After extensive consultation with industry stakeholders and the country clubs whose feature cup meetings would be affected by a calendar amendment, HRV announces the following programming changes:
• 10 January: Horsham Cup – Group 2, $60,000
• 16 January: Shepparton Cup – Group 2, $75,000 (automatic entry into Hunter Cup)
• 23 January: Ballarat Cup – Group 1, $120,000 (automatic entry to Victoria Cup) and Victoria Derby heats
• 30 January: Victoria Cup – Group 1, $400,000 (automatic entry to Miracle Mile on 28 Feb) and Victoria Derby – Group 1, $200,000
• 6 February: Hunter Cup – Group 1, $500,000, 4yo Bonanza – Group 1, $100,000 (auto entry into Chariots of Fire on 13 Feb), Ladyship Cup (auto entry into Ladyship Mile on 28 Feb)
• 13 February: Bendigo Cup – Group 2, $50,000 and Group 1, $50,000 Maori Mile
Harness Racing Victoria CEO John Anderson said it was important the participants were given the opportunity to compete at both the Victoria and NSW carnivals.
“At the front of our mind throughout this process has been the wider harness racing community and especially our Victorian participants,” Anderson said.
“We want our participants to have the opportunity to race in our feature carnival as well as the New South Wales carnival, so it was important we acted in their best interests by rearranging our calendar after the NSWHRC’s sudden announcement of its race conditions.
“We are really pleased with our sequence of feature events, which provides a range of opportunities for owners. Most importantly I would like to thank the Committees of the Bendigo, Shepparton and Ballarat Clubs, which have co-operated positively with HRV in devising the calendar. I would also like to thank the Consultative Groups who gave helpful input into the process.
There are several stakes increases to announce to add to the Carnival. They are:
• Shepparton Cup increases from $50,000 to $75,000
• Hunter Cup increases from $400,000 to $500,000
• 4yo Bonanza increases from $30,000 to Group 1 $100,000
• Maori Mile increases from $30,000 to Group 1 $50,000
• Ballarat Cup increases from $100,000 to $120,000
Note that the full suite of stakes increases for 2015/16 will be released at a later date
“We look forward to building on the success of this year’s Summer of Glory Carnival with the newly created Road To Glory at the country venues in January 2016,” Anderson said
CODY WINNELL
Driving The Future of Harness Racing