Hawke’s Bay J.C. stakes top $250,000

Press, 4 August 1987, Page 49

Hawke’s Bay J.C. stakes top $250,000

PA Hastings Horses will race for total stakemoney of $286,000 at the Hawke’s Bay Jockey Club’s spring meeting this year. This is the first time the club has topped the $250,000 mark. The New Zealand Racing Authority has allocated the club feature racedays for September 12 and 16, thus boosting the stakemoney subsidies. These subsidies, together with increased sponsorship, mean total stakemoney for the spring meeting will be up almost

$lOO,OOO on last year and all races will now carry a minimum stake of $7OOO. The club will also be making two significant changes to the spring meeting programme. The Ormond Memorial, a 2000 m weight-for-age race that has been run on the first day of the meeting in the last two years, will be transferred to the second day. The stake will be $45,000, up $BOOO on last year. The club sees putting the Ormond back to the second day as advanta-:

geous for the country’s weight-for-age stars. The race will now be run todays after the weight-for-age Tim Rogers Stakes at Wanganui. The other major change is the distance of the Okawa-Paramount Hawkes Bay Guineas, also run on the second day. The club has changed the distance of the three-year-old classic from 1609 m to 1400 m. It believes 1400 m is the best distance for three-year-olds to run over at that time of the year.