PUNTERS will be greeted with a close to capacity seven-race meeting at the Armidale Jockey Club on Monday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A huge crowd is expected for the Australia Day meeting, which will be highlighted by the Walcha Cup Prelude for the final event of the day.
Eighty-nine runners have accepted over the seven races, with four of those having a full field.
“Terrific fields,” Armidale Jockey Club secretary Jim Dedes said.
“It’s going to be hard to pick a winner, they are all pretty even fields.
“Eighty-nine acceptances is a good number for us.
“That is a lot of horses and a lot of trainers, that makes for a big crowd too.”
The Walcha Cup Prelude field is stacked with some of the region’s in-form horses.
Dedes said finding a winner in the race would be extremely tough, but he did pick a few he thought would be among the main chances.
“The top weight Youthful King is a good horse,” he said.
“Casino Swoop too, Colt Prosser always has a winner here.
“Miss Caitlyn is has won its last three, including the Glen Innes Cup, a couple of weeks ago.”
Racing is starting to heat up in Armidale with the Cup fast approaching.
“We’re really getting into it now,” Dedes said.
“We’ve got the Walcha Cup Prelude this weekend, the Guyra Cup on March 1 and Armidale Cup on March 16.”
While the fields are dominated by visitors, there will be a local presence in most races.
Only two Armidale trainers will have multiple runners, Keith Smith with Seaside Tiger in the first and White Goddess in the second and Lea Selby with Moss Garden in the third and Rhodonite in the fifth.
Justin Blanch has Play My Hand in the first, Ken Martin has Go Dragon in the third, Stirling Osland has Captain Shazam in the fifth and Neil Brown has Angelic Star in the fifth. Two Armidale trainers will also be vying for the feature event of the day, with Sandra McCormack having Storm Ahead and Paul Grills having Beyond Infinity in the Walcha Cup Prelude over 1300 metres.
Entry is free on the day with gates opening at 9.30am for Australia Day festivities.