• Jennifer McKenna, Regina Swane, Janine Chester, Jayne Henry and Belinda Kirkby could well be among the frontrunners in the Boydtown Belle competition at the Eden Cup this weekend.
Big numbers have nominated for the Eden Fishermen’s Club Eden Cup race day which kicks off the 2012-13 racing season at the Sapphire Coast Turf Club on Sunday, August 12.
It will be the first local meeting to carry the increased prizemoney announced recently by Racing NSW, with each race at country TAB meetings now worth $15,000.
The meeting also serves as a prelude to the big Spring racing carnivals in Sydney and Melbourne.
“We are delighted that we have been able to secure a Sunday race date for the Eden Cup meeting this year, which should allow for much greater community involvement and provide better exposure for sponsors,” secretary/manager Les Murphy said.
“Sky Channel and TVN coverage of the meeting nationally, including to the home audience on Foxtel, will also provide terrific promotional value for the town and sponsors.”
The day will feature a Fashion on the Field competition to select the Boydtown Belle, with the prize being two nights luxury accommodation at the Seahorse Inn at Boydtown.
Georgie’s Fine Jewellery are finding 40 friends to invite to the party they won in the $100 raffle that also gave them naming rights to one of the races.
There is now a second bus leaving from the Eden Fishermen’s Recreation Club and there will also be free pony rides for kids.
Nominations have been particularly strong for the feature races, the Eden Cup and the All New D-Max Isuzu Cup with 30 and 19 entries respectively.
The Eden Cup in particular, a Benchmark 50 race over 1400 metres, has drawn a terrific field with entries from the strong Canberra stables of Nick Olive, Kerri Kulic, Rado Boljun and Mick Maladinovic along with Frank Cleary and Neville Layt from Queanbeyan and several from Moruya.
Local hopes will be represented by Looksgoodinback trained by Chris and Michelle Strickland, Knocka Norris trained by Grant Bobbin and Palladium from the Benny Wynen stable.
The seven-race TAB meeting starts at 1.15pm with gates open from 12 noon. Full details on the turf club’s website www.sapphirecoastturfclub.com.au.
