The nominations aren’t even in yet for Friday’s Merimbula Cup race meet, but officials are expecting solid entries.
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“Everytime we get a new trainer visiting they’ve raved about the quality of the track and how well the surface runs, we’re gaining exposure that way all the time, so it’s just going to build as time goes on,” secretary/manager Rob Tweedie said.
The club will offer up a full eight-race TAB card where every race is worth $20,000 in prizes and there is $25,000 up for grabs in the headline Merimbula Cup.
The coveted title was taken out by local runner All Giving last year, and the mare will be a likely starter to defend the title after some solid results in recent meets.
There is increased interest from Victoria ahead of Friday, with Mr Tweedie saying he’d had a few phone calls from Cranbourne-based trainers who were eager to see how the nominations panned out.
The Sapphire Coast Turf Club is in ideal conditions, running at a grade of good 4 (flawless) on racing NSW’s seven-day update.
Mr Tweedie said the Friday afternoon race meet would be a good draw for families, but was excpetional for tradies who can knock off for the afternoon to enjoy the spectacle.
“We’ve got plenty of areas for the kids to play and take the family along, but we won’t have the usual fanfare of the jumping castle and fashions,” Mr Tweedie said.
Instead the club will focus solely on the racing for the meet and are looking to lock in nominations by early on Monday.