Scarlet Babe for trainer and driver Bernie and Doug Hewitt winning last year's Red Ochre Mares' Classic.
IN another welcoming boost for the New South Wales harness racing industry the Red Ochre Mares Classic at Dubbo has been elevated to Group 2 status.
With an injection of prizemoney, the time-honoured feature will now be worth $50,000 making it the most lucrative mares race in the state outside of the metropolitan basin.
The enhanced feature has a new date as well and will be run as early as December 1 this year.
Usually held in the cooler month of May, the rescheduled feature is set to attract a number of horses to the Western Districts track.
Harness Racing New South Wales chief executive John Dumesny was full of praise of the Dubbo Harness Racing Club.
“All credit goes to the Dubbo Harness Racing Club for their dedication to raising the profile of mares races,” said Dumesny.
“This will be the 20th year of the Red Ochre which was first won by Candyrama when the prizemoney was $8000.
“To be of Group 2 status with $50,000 prizemoney I would expect the best mares in New South Wales and possibly beyond to be at Dubbo on December 1.”
The support card for this race will also include $10,000 races.
This feature race meeting is one of five HRNSW has introduced this season across the state with a Group 2 feature and $10,000 support races.
The other meetings include the Group 2 Shirley Turnbull Memorial meeting at Gold Crown Paceway, Bathurst, as well as the elevated Group 2 Golden Guitar meeting at Paceway Tamworth.
In the metropolitan basin, these feature events will be the Renshaw Cup meeting at Penrith and the Treuer Memorial meeting at Bankstown.
This will further enhance a monster calendar in NSW this season and next year, which will also include, for the first time, two $1million races in the Miracle Mile and the TAB $1Million Pace.
There will also be the inaugural Group 1 Riverina Carnival at the new track in Wagga Wagga.
Amongst this will also be the TAB Carnival of Cups series with the next stop being Griffith on Friday, the Gold Crown Carnival at Bathurst in March as well as the lucrative Breeders Challenge series later in the season.
“These are exciting times for participants in NSW,” said Dumesny.
“There are feature events in each major region, highlighting harness racing in these areas.”
|
Date
|
Race Name
|
Start
|
Total
Stakes
|
Class
|
Metres
Draw
|
Other conditions
|
|
01/12/19
|
RED OCHRE MARES CLASSIC (GROUP 2)
|
MS
|
$50,000
|
NR up to 120.,
Mares
|
2120
PBD/NR
|
Driver or Mare Concessions do not apply.
|
|
26/12/19
|
SHIRLEY TURNBULL MEMORIAL (GROUP 2)
|
MS
|
$50,000
|
NR up to 120.
|
2790
PBD/NR
|
Driver or Mare Concessions do not apply.
|
|
23/01/20
|
GOLDEN GUITAR FINAL
(GROUP 2)
|
MS
|
$50,000
|
NR 60 to 75
|
1980
PBD/NR
|
For Australian Bred horses Only. Driver or Mare Concessions do not apply. For horses that qualified from Heats conducted at Tamworth on 19/01/20.
|
|
09/04/20
|
RENSHAW CUP
(GROUP 2)
|
MS
|
$50,000
|
NR up to 120.
|
2525
PBD/NR
|
Driver or Mare Concessions do not apply.
|
|
17/04/20
|
TREUER MEMORIAL (GROUP 2)
|
MS
|
$50,000
|
NR up to 120.
|
2540
RBD
|
Driver or Mare Concessions do not apply.
|
Harness Racing NSW (HRNSW) is the controlling body for harness racing in New South Wales with responsibility for commercial and regulatory management of the industry including 33 racing clubs across the State. HRNSW is headed by a Board of Directors and is independent of Government.
HRNSW MEDIA CONTACT:
AMANDA RANDO | MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
(02) 9722 6600 • arando@hrnsw.com.au • @Amanda_Rando
