WHILE the Red Ochre Classic heats are the main attraction on Wednesday there will be plenty more to see as the Dubbo Harness Racing Clubs Carnival Of Cups Series gets under way.
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The other feature race on the program is the fifth and final heat of the Club Dubbo Dooza Golden Gig, giving six locals a chance to qualify for the rich final being run on Sunday, May 17. Only two spots remain after recent heats were run at Forbes, Bathurst, Tamworth and Parkes.
Two locals in Garry Edwards, a five-time Trainers Premiership winner, and James Sutton have already each qualified a runner.
Peter Lew's Happy Napa comes into the final after a second-placed finish at Dubbo last month while the gelding also ran at Menangle earlier this year in the $25,000 Menangle Country Final.
With nine placings from 23 starts the Pays will be confident of being in the mix again.
Greg Pay's Sanity Claus comes into the race in form after two placings in the six-year-old's past two starts at Narrabri.
Brett Pay will also be in action with Wah Sui Lady looking for win number two in 10 starts.
Another interesting race on Wednesday's program is the Maiden Pace. This race, for horses that have not won at all at a licenced meeting, is sponsored by Ron Hoy. The 94-year-old veteran, who very seldom misses a meeting, was Dubbo's leading trainer way back in the 70s and 80s, training in excess of a 150 winners.
His sons, Garth and Lester, remain the only local drivers to win more than 100 races on the Dubbo circuit.
Harness racing at Dubbo has long been known as a family sport for locals.
Names like Lew, Hoy, Pay, Lesslie, McKinnon and Edwards have become very familiar and successful names in the sport.
With the club's major meeting being conducted this Sunday, coinciding as always with the final day of the Dubbo Show, these names are sure to feature prominently.
When you add to those already mentioned, more recent families participating with a deal of success like Reynolds, Carroll and Sutton are ensuring harness racing at Dubbo continues to thrive.