SIMPLE economics was the main factor behind Dubbo harness trainers Garth and Nathan Hoy electing to move their horses south to Murringo, near Young.
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The Hoys will leave the city later this month bound for their new home, with Saturday's six-race program at the Showground Paceway their last as Dubbo trainers.
It's a plan that has been more than two years in the making and designed to allow their team of 30-40 horses more consistent racing.
But Garth Hoy has already stated the family will not be lost entirely to Dubbo.
"We've got to be out of here and down in Young by December 20 but we'll be back up here to race on Boxing Night," he said.
"It's a weight off our shoulders to be moving because where we are we will be 20 minutes from Young, about one-and-a-half hours from Wagga and not far from other tracks like Canberra, Goulburn, Menangle and even Bathurst.
"Dubbo will be a tick over three hours when we do come back here.
"It's right in the centre of a good area for harness racing and there will be no shortage of meetings for us to take our horses to.
"It's too hard here. Bathurst races pretty much every week but it's one meeting a week and it's more than two hours for us to get there.
"It makes sense for us to be in the middle of a heap of tracks and give the horses the chance to get some regular racing."
The Dubbo club has named one of its races on Saturday night after the Hoy family, which also includes Garth's wife Robyn and daughter April, however the two girls will be sticking around in Dubbo for the time being.
And while a race has been named in their honour, the Hoys won't have a runner in it.
"We've only got one horse in on Saturday night and that's Lawrence William in the first race," Garth Hoy said.
"It would have been nice to have one in the race they named after us but we haven't got many in work at the moment because we haven't been sure whether we were moving and I'd had a couple of operations.
"But it's all systems go now so it would be nice if Lawrence William, even though he's no champ, could win for us."
o DUBBO FIELDS: Page 40