By Craig Dumesny
Harness Racing New South Wales gave the Parkes Club a huge compliment by choosing the venue to conduct one of five Carnival of Cups fixtures for the 2024/25 season.
This Friday night at the Parkes Showground Paceway, a crowd of 5000 is expected to attend what will be the biggest race meeting ever held at the historic track.
Obviously, the music entertainment that has been lined up for Friday night is the primary attraction that has captured the huge interest with The Living End, Shannon Noll, Sarah Berki, Robbie Mortimer and our own Michael Green set to play up a storm but the eight-race harness racing program is certain to produce some great contests.
The feature cup race, named “The Dish,” carries $60,000 in prizemoney, the richest horse race ever held in Parkes that is likely to attract a high-class field.
Not only will the open class pacers be chasing high stakes at the meeting, but they will have the chance to earn their connections a cool million dollar bonus throughout the Carnival of Cups season.
Young, Tamworth, Albury, and Penrith will each host a Cup race on the feature meeting programs and should the Parkes winner go on to win at all those venues, they will pick up the million-dollar purse.
If they can snare four of the Cups, a healthy $500,000 will go their way and for three wins a $250,000 bonus will be given.
Some of Sydney’s leading trainers have indicated that they will travel to Parkes on Friday including David Aiken with Max Delight and Malcolms Rhythm, Joe Connolly with Loyalist and Jason Grimson with Swayzee and Nerano.
The supporting program also offers good prizemoney that should attract trainers from far and wide.
Parkes Harness Racing Club President Geoff Cole said that his committee is excited to be hosting such a significant event and believes that come Friday, the number of patrons attending will be greater than the predicted 5,000.
“It is a free event with music artists that you would normally expect to pay over $100 to see, so why wouldn’t anyone who likes entertainment not turn up," Geoff said.
“We were a bit surprised when we first learnt that the Board and Management of Harness Racing New South Wales chose Parkes to host the event, but we were pleased that they did, and we are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that it will be a memorable night.”
Gates will open at 4.30pm with the first of the harness racing events scheduled for 5.15pm.
A number of food stalls will be operating as well as coffee outlets, an ice cream van, and the usual bar facilities.
A high presence of security personnel will be at the paceway to ensure all runs smoothly.
Patrons are reminded that alcohol cannot be brought into the venue and chairs will be provided for their comfort.
It is not too late to register to attend on Friday night, simply head to Harness Racing New South Wales social media to find the links.