Small increases in stakes for Ashburton

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 31

Small increases in stakes for Ashburton

By

G. K. YULE

Increases of $lOO over the equivalent races at the winter meeting have been applied to supporting races at the Ashburton Trotting Club’s spring meeting, which this year will be held at Addington Raceway on Saturday, October 3. The change in venue is due to the reconstruction of the front straight of the main track, which is due to start immediately after the galloping meeting on September 5.

The stake for the Ashburton Flying Stakes, a race popular with owners and trainers as a lead-up towards the New Zealand Cup in November. remains unchanged at s6ooo.The race will be run over 2600 m. instead of the usual 2400 m when the event has been run on grass.

The club is hoping for another highly successful .meeting. It was forced to race at Addington in the spring of 1977 when it obtained an on-course turnover of $310,979. This set the seal on a most successful season. The club had not been so fortunate in the past two seasons, being affected by the financial drain resulting from a large programme of improvements. The construction of an allweather racing surface for trotting meetings is to start in about four months and it will be available for the winter meeting next year. This will be an added heavy expense for the club. This year’s spring meeting will not have to contend with a meeting at Gore where there was a sprint race for open class horses last year. This had its effect on the

Ashburton Flying Stakes, which attracted a field of 15, including a large number of horses assessed slower than the open class limit. The Invercargill Club will race on the same day as the Ashburton meeting on October 3, but it is unlikely there will be a race for open class horses in the south. Last year the southern province was strong in open class horses, but there have been heavydeletions this season.

The second most tightlyassessed race at Ashburton will have a front of C 6. Its stake will be $4OOO, $250 more than 12 months ago.

Maiden horses will race for $2OOO at Ashburton? with the stake for Cl horses rising to $2200. for C2 horses to $2400. and C 3 horses to $2600.

The stake for C 4 horses will be $3400.

There has been a lift of $6OO to $4600 in the stake for the Methven Cup. the feature race at the Methven Trotting Club's spring meeting, to be run on September 28. The limit for the race remains unchanged at C 6. The Methven club experienced a moderately successful season in 1980-81 and have applied increases of $lOO to the stakes for most supporting events. CO horses will race for $l9OO. Cl for $2lOO, C2 for $2300 and C 3 for $2500.

The stake for the T.S. Harrison Three-year-old Stakes has been increased by $l5O to $2650, while that for the Four-year-old Stakes will be $2600, an increase of $2OO over last year. The four-year-old event caters for horses assessed at Cl to C 5, with special handicapping conditions.