Record priemoney for Cup
The Traralgon Pacing Cup harness race will be run for record prizemoney this year.
Scheduled for the next harness race meeting at Warragul on Sunday June 24, the 2018 edition of the event will be run for $10,000 in prizemoney, a substantial increase on the $7000 stake provided for last year’s event.
Warragul Harness Racing Club officials expect a strong field of pacers to contest this year’s event, especially given the increase in prizemoney.
The increase has come about because of Harness Racing Victoria’s improved financial position, enabling the controlling body to add extra stakes to races statewide in May and June.
First staged as the Latrobe Valley Pacing Cup in 1976, the race recognises two decades of trotting at the Glenview Park Racecourse in Traralgon, from 1975 to 1995.
The event was reintroduced to the local racing calendar by the Warragul Harness Racing Club in 2006.
The previous record stake for the race was $7500, when the race was last staged at Traralgon at the final trots meeting there in November 1995.
This year’s event will be for two to three win pacers, and should attract strong local entries as several trainers across the region have horses eligible for this class of event.
Harness Racing Victoria officials have also seen fit to allocate a $10,000 stake to the Ken Miller Memorial event, to be staged on the same day as the Traralgon Pacing Cup.
Three races programmed with $5000 prizemoney on the day will also carry a further $1000 bonus to the winning connections as part of another initiative by Harness Racing Victoria to increase returns to participants during the months of May and June.
In a further boost to the sport locally, all remaining meetings at Warragul this year will be staged on Sunday afternoons in an effort to increase attendances trackside.
Further Sunday meetings are planned for July, August and December this year.
Harness Racing Victoria officials have adjusted funding arrangements for country trots clubs conducting Sunday afternoon meetings to help offset the increased cost of casual wages at these events.