Leeton Harness Racing Club’s decision to boost prize money for the Breeders Plate has resulted in nearly 40 horses nominating for the two year old feature. With the January 1 final now worth $40,000, club officials announced a number of trainers had nominated horses for the race and were pleased to see a strong representation of fillies amongst the entries.
Club Secretary Joanne Punch confirmed 15 fillies had been nominated for the Breeders Plate, an improvement on recent seasons.
“With the extra prize money on offer, the trainers don’t seem worried putting their fillies up against the colts and geldings this year which is great to see,” Mrs Punch said.
“There are some beautifully bred horses nominated and while not all of them have been named yet the Club is really excited by the quality.”
Some of the stallions represented in the nominations include Somebeachsomewhere, Rocknroll Hanover and Bettors Delight.
“There are three Somebeachsomewhere youngsters in the nominations plus horses by Blissfull Hall, Courage Under Fire, Robin Hood, Rocknroll Heaven, Roll With Joe, Art Major and Shadow Play.
“it is quite encouraging to see such a strong group at this stage, the one-off payment and stronger prize money has definitely helped.
Bathurst trainer Bernie Hewitt has nominated multiple runners while previous Breeders Plate winning trainer Paul Kahlefeldt has put four runners in. Trainer Col Thomas has won two of the previous three Breeders Plates and has nominated one runner and will be hoping his successful run continues.
“Hopefully with a bit of luck they will all stay in but obviously some will have problems between now and the end of the year, overall we’re really happy with the numbers.
“Under the new structure the nominations are final and I will be ringing the trainers in December to confirm a start for their horses in the series.”
Heats of $5,100 will be conducted on December 26 with the final to be conducted on New Years Day.
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