September 26, 2014
by Ross Stanley
Thanks to the generous support of the Heritage Nanango Community Funding Ltd and Racing Queensland’s new prize money scales, the Nanango Race Club is well placed to kick off its new racing season in fine style on Saturday, October 4.
Aided by HNCF’s overall $5,500 sponsorship, the main event on the day – the Heritage Nanango Mardi Gras Cup (BM 65, 1200m) – will be worth $9,000.
Given that Racing Queensland’s base purse per race will now be $7,000, it could well be that some stables have skipped the last of the $6,000 allocations and will be out in force next weekend.
The new across-the-board stakes are effective from October 1.
Whilst Nanango’s cause will be assisted by the fact that much of the recent rural racing has been on non-turf tracks, there is an unfortunate log-jam of meetings coming up.
The curious mix has been created by the closure of Eagle Farm and the ensuing rescheduling of TAB dates.
With Doomben resting on October 4, the Gold Coast is the city venue while the Sunshine Coast stages the provincial meeting.
An important alteration to the original schedule is the Sunday TAB fixture at Kilcoy with its $20,000 Showcase (BM 75,1060m) feature.
Ipswich has an aggressively marketed Labour Day holiday program on the Monday.
And on the country calendar, Nanango will be clashing with Tara’s Cup day.
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Future Country Series
Although there is still a while to run on the current Showcase-Celebration-Sustain events, it is worth glancing at the 2015 initiative for New South Wales.
It goes without saying that $1 million of the $10 million funding for The Championships in the autumn is the underwriting benefactor to the scheme that is built on regional heats providing runners for a $300,000 final at Randwick next April.
The quinella horses in each of the seven qualifying contests at Wagga Wagga, Goulburn, Bathurst, Dubbo, Tamworth, Grafton and Port Macquarie will be eligible to chase the pot of gold at headquarters.
These races will each carry $100,000 in prize money and be restricted to gallopers trained in the region.
The downside to the arrangements is that a vast slice of the state is not included.
Equitable treatment has been an issue with the present RQ series in that the Showcase venues have been fixed and not rotated.
Hence the opportunities have not been shared widely enough.
Victoria has a number of series-based concepts, but that area of the nation is like a handkerchief when compared to the “big top” surface area of the Sunshine State.
Travelling distances and costs have greater impact in the larger states.
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The Babies Step Into The Spotlight
Saturday’s $50,000 Charlton Tyre Service QTIS Hopeful Plate at Toowoomba is the first Queensland competition for the 2014-15 juveniles.
Remarkably, 11 fillies and just two males accepted for the 1000 metre dash.
Kumbia’s James Curtain will hope that his entrant, the emergency Mighty Ho, gains a run.
The interestingly bred colt by the Storm Cat stallion Mosayter (USA) has not had a public trial and a wide gate will not be helpful.
The two-year-old’s dam Indy Rose (USA) is a grand-daughter of the 1977 American Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.
Northern Dancer, Secretariat, Mr Prospector, Bustino, Crepello, Round Table and the grand mare Highclere are on the rookie’s pedigree page.
Mosayter’s best to date is Mr Moet, the classy Western Australian winner of the WATC Railway Stakes (Gr 1).
Curtain also has the maiden performer Somerset Dawn engaged at Taroom.
Wondai’s Norma King also has candidates for the Dawson Jockey Club’s card.
All starters on the dirt track will pick up a $100 rebate courtesy of the club.
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Australian Football Rules The Roster
On Saturday, with the AFL Grand Final obviously acting as a supreme counter-attraction, the Sandown program is very much a minor affair.
Moonee Valley’s Moir Stakes (Gr 1) on Friday night and Caulfield’s Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1) on Sunday are the turf drawcards.
Both agendas include absorbing black-type support events with Queenslanders Buffering, Pienkna, Traveston Girl, Aimee, Alma’s Fury and Looks Like The Cat all doing battle.
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Bits And Bridles
- Peter Blackwell, Rhiannon Payne and Count Romano take on Ratings Band 0-65 company over 2000 metres at Clifford Park at 7.55pm on Saturday. The team also fields Hazzel Monique in the Maiden (1050m).
- Glenn Richardson has withdrawn Canid from the Sunshine Coast on Friday night. The Elusive City bay is now set to appear at Gympie on Saturday. The stable’s Miss You Johnny unfortunately bled last time out at Beaudesert and has incurred a mandatory three months ban. Norma King is also represented at Gympie with Cozelette in the Maiden.
- Champion stallion Sequalo has succumbed to laminitis. The Lyndhurst Stud stalwart has left it to his son Spirit of Boom to maintain the family’s honour. The Doomben 10,000 winner is presently undertaking his first month of breeding barn duties at Eureka Stud near Toowoomba.
- More than a Christmas supply of macadamia nuts could be crushed under the hammer at the Magic Million’s auctioneer’s rostrum in the coming few weeks. The Two-Year-Olds In Training Breeze Up Sale is on Tuesday 30th September. The massive Patinack Farm unreserved dispersal sale will be conducted there from 28th September to 1 October, a date that will be shared with the Spring Racehorse sale. There will be watchful eyes looking to see if recent prize money increases boost sales clearance rates and prices.
