AFTER more than 35 years of racing at Penola, the Millicent Racing Club have cut ties with the Penola club and will conduct its annual cup race meeting here at Mount Gambier as from next year.
“We were approached about 18 months ago by the Millicent club to race here at Mount Gambier and they did all the negotiating” John Fartch, president of the Mount Gambier Racing Club said earlier this week.
It is believed the Millicent club were keen to have its race meeting here this year (March 31) but that was not possible as the newly reconstructed Mount Gambier track was not ready for use before mid April.
One of the prime reasons for the change has been the on-going friction between the Millicent and Penola clubs which stems back to an unforeseen, enormous rental hike instigated by the Penola club in 2017 for the use of the Penola racecourse by the Millicent club.
Millicent officials were up in arms at the hefty rise in rent, which was several thousands of dollars, especially when the Millicent club had contributed more than forty thousand dollars to the Penola club in the past decade for improvements to the Penola racecourse.
Since that initial rent rise, the rental has continued to rise each year and, combined with other factors, the Millicent club decided to seek another venue to race on.
“Our major sponsors are also very keen to go to Mount Gambier and the cost of running the meeting, apart from rental, will be more beneficial for us”, Millicent racing club president Mark Dwyer told The Border Watch on Wednesday.
The Millicent club were allocated Sunday, May 4 for its cup meeting next year, but that was not suitable for the Mount Gambier club which annually accommodate school children involved with the Generations In Jazz festival in its Glenburnie complex on that same weekend.
Early last week Dwyer contacted the Bordertown racing club which are scheduled to race in late May next year to seek the possibility of a swap of dates.
“Bordertown were only too happy to swap dates and Mount Gambier officials agreed to have us race at Glenburnie.
“Last Friday, I contacted David Thomas at Thoroughbred Racing SA who, as it turned out, was the right person to contact in regards to the change and the all clear to race at Mount Gambier was given there and then.
“An email was then sent to the Penola club advising of the change of venue, and I rang Penola racing club president Mark Edwards who was not surprised at the decision by us to move to Mount Gambier.
“It has all happened very quickly, and we can now look forward to having our cup meeting at Mount Gambier on Sunday, May 25.”
When the Millicent racecourse closed in the late 1960’s, its meetings transferred to Mount Gambier until the early 1980’s when the switch was made to Penola.
It will be like winding back the clock some fifty years for the Millicent club as its cup meeting was usually held in late May or early June when they conducted meetings at Millicent.
For the Mount Gambier racing club, to have Millicent on board is another positive in regards to faith in the new track which has received accolades of the highest order since the return to racing in April.
It will boost the total of meetings at Mount Gambier to at least 16 per year.
FINAL JUMPING MEETING OF THE YEAR HERE
IN another recent development, David Thomas of TRSA has advised that the Mount Gambier racing club will conduct the final jumps meeting in Australia for 2019 in September.
This year, Victoria have shortened its jumping season by a month, to end at Casterton in late August.
There will then be two jumping meetings here in South Australia, starting with the Irish jumps day at Morphettville Parks on Saturday, September 7.
The curtain for Australian jumps racing for 2019 will be here at Mount Gambier eight days later on Sunday, September 15.
IT’S BACK TO GLOBE DERBY PARK
GOOD to see a resolution has been found enabling harness racing to return to Globe Derby Park tomorrow night.
It took nearly two months for fruitful negotiations between Harness Racing SA and the South Australian Harness Racing to be achieved.
While Globe Derby Park was out of action, the main SA meetings were held at Port Pirie to the dismay of South East trainers who twice had to make the long haul to the mid north for the heats and finals of the Southern Cross series.
The truce will see HRSA assume responsibility for both the management and facilitation of racing and training operations out at Globe Derby.
DIDN’T NEED ANOTHER RACE
THOROUGHBRED Racing SA can take a bow for the programming and timing of the race meeting at Penola last Sunday.
With the weather closing in quickly before the final race, the seven race card finished in the gloom in the nick of time at 4.15pm. and a later finish or an extra race certainly was not required.
As seasoned racecaller Terry McAuliffe commented “it was the darkest conditions I have ever called a race” and Terry has called thousands of races over a long period.
The Penola track held up well after being downgraded early in the day from a Slow 7 to a Heavy 8.
Penola are due to race again in just over a fortnight on Sunday, June 16.
BUSES TO EDENHOPE
WATCHING the skies with great interest in the next week will be the committee of the Apsley racing club.
Its annual race meeting is only eight days away on Sunday, June 10 at the Edenhope racecourse.
Buses from Mundulla, Bordertown, Naracoorte, Penola and Mount Gambier have been organised to take racegoers at a very cheap cost ($5 one way or $10 return).
The Penola bus will leave the IGA car park in Penola at 9.30am with pick ups in Coonawarra.
For Mount Gambier residents, the bus will depart Target car park at 9am with a pickup at Casterton.
Bookings can be made on line (country.racing.com/apsley) or with Lisa Inkster (0427989212).
The Apsley cup meeting has grown in stature over the past five years since being moved to June and the only hic-cup can be the inclement winter weather.
“We had an inch of rain last week which was just perfect, however we know we are in the lap of the gods weather wise at this time of the year” Apsley president Roger Pfitzner stated.
The day before (Saturday) will be the annual Tour De Frances bike ride/race from Apsley to Frances to raise money for the Edenhope hospital with Jane Fitzgerald (0411632936) handling all enquiries.
BACK IN WINNING FORM
PICKING up almost $4,000 in prizemoney at Ararat on Wednesday night would have helped combat the arctic conditions for Steve Fennell.
Bezza, a six year old mare he owns and trains, regained the form we saw earlier in the season to take out the C0-C1 pace.
She obviously had support on the tote here, paying just $11 for the win but officially started as a $21 chance.
Driver Jason Lee sat Bezza in behind the leader and was untroubled to run past the favourite No City Chick in the run home to score by more than three metres.
