Muswellbrook Race Club officials have been busily preparing for a mammoth day at Skellatar Park Racecourse next Friday March 19, when the club stages its annual Aberdeen Cup and Slipper race meeting.
Also on the day the Club will host the inaugural Upper Hunter Business and Trades Expo, with more than 30 stand holders located around the course enclosures.
NSW Racing will be represented in one of the stands.
Aberdeen Cup-Slipper Day has been extremely popular with racegoers and trainers in previous years.
This year’s Aberdeen Cup, a Benchmark 60 Handicap over 1550 metres, is being sponsored by Aberdeen All Farm.
Migoto won last year’s cup by a long head from Saddler Jack, the winner being trained at Broadmeadow by Jason Deamer.
The Greg Cribb Memorial Aberdeen Slipper for two-year-olds over 900 metres is being sponsored by the Cribb and Snowden families.
Leading Sydney trainer Peter Snowden, a former Scone jockey, won the Aberdeen Slipper last year with Shakes, owned by Sheikh Mohammed.
Shakes was the second leg of the double for Snowden, and was followed home in the Slipper by Ross and Joan Green’s filly, Happy Ana, which incidentally, won its first race at Muswellbrook earlier this month.
Warwick Farm based Peter Snowden, who is head trainer for Darley, has indicated he will have several runners at next week’s Cup-Slipper race day.
Snowden is the brother-in-law of the late Greg Cribb, a former top class country jockey, who died in a motor traffic accident near Branxton.
Other race sponsors next Friday are John Messara’s Arrowfield Stud, Commercial Hotel Aberdeen, Muswellbrook Workers Club and Blooms Cranes.
On Thursday night prior to cup day, a calcutta will be held at the Commercial Hotel, with racing identity Alan Gollogly, the guest speaker.
Four for Alex
Newcastle apprentice jockey, Alex Stokes, excelled her wildest expectations when she rode four winners on the 8 race program at Taree last Friday.
The feat by a female apprentice jockey winning half the program is being hailed as a first in New South Wales, and possibly most other states.
Twenty-two-year-old Stokes, who has been riding for less than two years, was hoping to win at least one race at Taree.
Apprenticed to Broadmeadow trainer Steve Hodge, Stokes is a regular at Skellatar Park race meetings.
In November last year
Stokes became only the
second female jockey to win the Muswellbrook Cup.
The first was Leanne Henry in 2008.
Stokes won the Muswellbrook Cup on All Time Champion, and also booted home Brother Bill, winner of the co-feature race, the Skellatar Sprint.
Another Winner
Inverell trainer Wayne Oakenfull, and Muswellbrook apprentice jockey Daniel Northey, linked up again to win the Open Handicap (1100m) with Runaway Shadow in class record time at Armidale last Saturday.
They had previously paired up to win at a non-TAB meeting at Bingara several weeks previously, and will link again when Runaway Shadow contests the Armidale Newmarket on Cup day, March 22.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter