General News
16 January, 2020
Stellar field for annual Cup
TWO local hopes and horses from big name trainers highlight the field for tomorrow’s $45,000 Sungold Milk Camperdown Cup.
TWO local hopes and horses from big name trainers highlight the field for tomorrow’s $45,000 Sungold Milk Camperdown Cup.
The Camperdown Turf Club’s feature race meeting has attracted 12 runners and four emergencies for their 1600 metre event starting at 4.46pm.
Among the runners is locally trained mare My Psychiatrist from Clint Marshall’s stable, while Geoff Daffy’s star Rondalago is first emergency on the field.
Top weight for the event is Matt Cumani’s Wetakemanhattan, with Patrick Payne’s Street Sheik, Glenn Thornton’s Life of Waldo and George Osborne’s Gasworx among the runners.
Last year’s winning trainer Ciaron Maher and David Eustace are hoping to go back-to-back with Think Bleue, while Matthew Williams’ Our Bottino is hoping to add to its 2017 triumph.
Rounding out the field is Richard Wilson’s Pickelhaube, Terry and Karina O’Sullivan’s Revlis, Daniel Bowman’s Manhattan Arch, Henry Dwyer’s Under Oath and Lindsey Smith’s Royal Perofrmance.
Pat McKenna’s Tea Tales is second emergency by Rondalago.
Camperdown Turf Club president Laurie Hickey said the club was thrilled to have assembled a quality field for their once-a-year event.
“We’ve been well recognised for the surface we prepare, which is reflected in the quality of horses in the field,” he said.
“The cup will be a ripper and of course we hope that both our locally trained horses get a run and if they both do they’ll be carrying the weight of the region.
“Geoff’s always had a good success here over the years and we’re really hoping Clint may be able to win his first Camperdown Cup.
“Their work will be cut out though because of the other trainers bringing high profile horses along such as the Maher-Eustace stable, who will be trying to back up their win from last year with Here to There.”
Hickey said the two key aspects of the cup – its 1600 metre distance and prize money worth $45,000 – gave “everyone a chance to win a country cup that they might not win elsewhere”.
“It’s a pretty unique point that we have a 1600 metre race that is open to a wide range of horses,” he said.
Hickey said the remainder of the card, which features three maidens and four restricted races, had attracted good numbers.
He said the trainers and their horses should enjoy the surface, which he believes will be in good condition for the meeting.
“It’s great to see some of the trainers returning again and because of their support we are able to provide high quality fields,” he said.
“One hundred and seven entries is a good field for our small club.
“We’ll be continually watering the track up until the meeting so we expect to have a good track for the day,”
“The long, wide straight, I think it’s 380 metres, gives every horse the opportunity to stake its claim.”
The day will kick off with the 2200 metre Skybow Bulk Haulage 0-58 handicap at 1pm, while the last race, the Colac Toyota benchmark 64 handicap will close the meeting at 5.26pm.
Hickey said the club thanked their loyal sponsors for the continued support, adding he hopes all racegoers enjoy the event.
“We wish everyone all the best of luck and hopefully those with an astute eye can tip a winner on the card,” he said.