The excitement surrounding the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival may have subsided and the glitz and glamour of springtime at the track may seem a long way in the distance, but there's plenty happening at Dubbo Turf Club.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This weekend sees the club's autumn and winter racing season take off, with Sunday's Family Fun Day meeting one of seven to be held before the end of August.
"We race six or seven times and then that leads into the Gold Cup, Derby Day, and before you know it it's the Christmas twilights (meeting) so it's very exciting," Dubbo Turf Club general manager Vince Gordon said.
Sunday's meeting attracted a massive 199 nominations and while it bodes well for what could be an extended eight-race program, there's plenty of bigger races on the horizon.
This year the club will hold the Country Classic series for the first time, with two heats to be held on May 27 before the $40,000 final feature as part of a bumper meeting on June 14.
"The track is in excellent condition and we're excited for the feature meetings," Gordon added.
"That includes the Country Classic series and our Chamber of Commerce meeting with the Silver Goblet."
READ ALSO:
The Country Classic is a benchmark 58 handicap series, with mares and fillies contesting one heat while colts and geldings contest the other.
The first seven past the post in each race head to the final.
"It's for country-only horses and country trainers," Gordon said of the Country Classic.
"The series is worth more than $80,000 so we've put a bit of effort in. I know it will be a great day on June 14 with that being one feature, the Rhino Cup, the Silver Goblet, and there's also going to be an open sprint so it's a quality day."
Before that, Sunday's meeting shapes as another competitive one.
After just short of 200 nominations Gordon stated an extra race may be added to the original seven-race card.
"One-hundred-and-ninety-nine noms for a standard TAB meeting is exceptional," he added.
"With that many nominations there's going to be talent across the board."
The Silver Goblet Preview (1100m) may given an early indication of who to beat in the annual two-year-old feature, that race attracting 16 nominations.
Among those is the Pat Farrell-trained Bengalla Boy, the colt having already scored one win from seven starts in his career.
The Todd Smart-trained Washington Towers, who won on debut in January, and the as of yet untested Chilli Pop from the Dubbo stables of Darren Hyde were also put forward.
Twenty-one nominations were put forward for the Benchmark 66 Handicap (1100m), among those the handy Don and Andrew Ryan-trained Annecy and last-start winner Demonize from the Wellington stables of Michael Mulholland.
Final fields are confirmed on Thursday.