Trainer Michael Pay knows how important the boxing night races at the Dubbo Showgrounds can be.
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The event, which has taken on a deeper significance in recent years after becoming a meeting ground for the Yeo family, has always been a big fixture in the Dubbo Harness Racing schedule.
Pay isn't scoffing at the importance, with his horses Jacob Thunder and I Am Super Sophie contesting the Colleen O'Neill Memorial and the Gerard Yeo Memorial races respectively, and he's eager to see them score wins in the main focus of the evening.
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"Yeah, it's always good to go around on boxing night, it's one of those one meeting a year things were you really like to win a race in that," Pay said.
"Both of the people being commemorated in the memorial are folks we knew, Colleen someone's we knew quite well and we've had a really good relationship with the Yeo family, so it would be nice to snag a victory for them."
Both horses will again be partnered with driver Jack Pay, the younger brother of Tom Pay, who's got strong results out of Jacobs Thunder in his last few appearances at the Dubbo track, with a string of placements dating back to November.
"Jacobs Thunder, he should be up there again, he'll be a pretty good start for us, I think, Jack's been going pretty well, we're hoping for a nice run and we'll see how we go."
Both Thunder and Sophie have drawn starts in the front row, which Pay hopes will allow Jacobs Thunder a strong start, but is some cause for concern for the slower starting Sophie.
"She's in the Gerard Yeo race, we're hoping she can be up there or thereabouts, she's gone a little better in her last start and she's showing some improvements," Pay said.
"It's always handy to start off the front, but she's not that fast of a beginner, so it'll be up to seeing where she ends up in the run and how things play out on that track."
The Pay's won't be the only family team contesting the races, however, with the Wendy Turnbull trained and Emma Turnbull driven Zermat appearing in the Colleen O'Neill Memorial race, while their gelding Bustling Barney will contest the Gerard Yeo Memorial race.
Bustling Barney will be starting in the front row alongside I Am Super Sophie, and looking to improve on a second place finish in Bathurst at the start of the month.
The evening of racing was expected to begin at 6.12pm on Thursday, December 26, but the start of the first race has been pushed back to 7.10pm with the Orana Wool and Scrap Metal Pace.
