Small fields at Alexandra Park are stifling turnovers for the embattled Auckland Trotting Club.
ATC introduces Golden Gait race night to attract more starters with 10 $100,000 races
By Barry Lichter • 25 January 2024
The Auckland Trotting Club has introduced a new loyalty scheme which will see 10 races each run for $100,000 in November.
The ‘Golden Gait race night’, designed to encourage more horses to race at Alexandra Park, will have five races for pacers and five for trotters, all over a mobile mile.
To be eligible, three-year-old and older horses must race a minimum of six times and two-year-olds four times during the qualifying period.
Horses will accrue points - five for first, three for second , two for third and one for also-rans.
In both pacing and trotting, one race will be held for the top 12 points-earning two-year-olds, one for the top 12 three-year-olds and three races for the top 36 four-year-old and older horses.
The older qualifiers will be split based on their ratings at the time of withdrawals for the meeting to create fair, competitive contests.
Preferential barrier draws will apply for all events on ratings and stakes with the two-year-old and three-year-old events also seeing fillies drawing inside colts and geldings.
The prizemoney will be split $50,000 to the winner, $15,000 for second, $10,000 for third, $5000 for fourth and $2500 for all other starters.
Connections of horses must pay a $100 nomination fee for the Golden Gait and the accumulation of points will start on Friday night if the payment and entry form have been submitted in advance.
The loyalty programme will run until November 15 with the Golden Gait race meeting to be held on November 29 at Alexandra Park.
The initiative comes as the heavily in debt club attempts to stem the decline in horses racing at the Park.
Just 70 horses will contest the 10 races there on Friday night and only three of those have enough starters to allow three place dividends - four races have only six runners and three have seven.
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Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.40pm
“She’s going as good as she can. She’s got a bit of speed but isn’t that strong. But she should get a nice trip here and be right in the frame. She’ll win one soon.”
Race 1: Jessie Lincoln
5.40pm
“She’s a big filly who has taken time to mature but she has plenty of ability. She’s a good pacer and I expect her to improve on her resuming run and go well.”
Race 1: Lincoln Dealer
5.40pm
“He’s a bit of a handful, too keen for his own good sometimes, so I’ll be happy to see him just get round and do most things right. He’s no superstar but he’s coming to it slowly but surely. We’re throwing him in the deep end here and he has a terrible draw but we have to start somewhere.”
Race 4: Lincoln Maree
7.04pm
“She’s as tough as old boots and tries like hell and you can’t ask for much more than that. She just lacks a bit of speed but has a good attitude. She usually finds one or two better than her but will make them work for it anyway.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Prince Lincoln
4.56pm
“He’ll be improved for the last run, has trialled and is working well, and has a better draw (the ace) this time. You just have to be a bit wary because he’s let us down a couple of times.”
Race 3: Angelic Copy
5.56pm
“She had a tie-up issue but seems much better now. It’s her first run for a while so she’ll definitely need the run. I’m just hoping she gets around all right and pulls up OK.”
Race 3: Colonel Lincoln
5.56pm
“He’s a very capable horse, if injury prone, and he’s been back in work for three or four months. You never say never but, realistically, he’s just starting off so you can’t expect him to be at his peak.”
Race 5: Sammy Lincoln
6.55pm
“I know I said it two starts back but if there’s such a thing as a certainty, he’s it. Even from seven on the gate, everything says he’s the one to beat. If he hadn’t gone a bit goofy up the home straight last time in the Sires’ Stakes Semi at Cambridge, he’d have easily run third. This is a huge drop in class.”
Race 7: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.58pm
“I expect he’ll be a bit sharper this time. He’s looking well and feeling good but I still think another run under his belt will be beneficial for him. He’s not one to leap out of the ground but he is capable of taking the race.”
