Small fields at Alexandra Park are stifling turnovers for the embattled Auckland Trotting Club.
ATC introduces Golden Gait race night to attract more starters with 10 $100,000 races
By Barry Lichter • 25 January 2024
The Auckland Trotting Club has introduced a new loyalty scheme which will see 10 races each run for $100,000 in November.
The ‘Golden Gait race night’, designed to encourage more horses to race at Alexandra Park, will have five races for pacers and five for trotters, all over a mobile mile.
To be eligible, three-year-old and older horses must race a minimum of six times and two-year-olds four times during the qualifying period.
Horses will accrue points - five for first, three for second , two for third and one for also-rans.
In both pacing and trotting, one race will be held for the top 12 points-earning two-year-olds, one for the top 12 three-year-olds and three races for the top 36 four-year-old and older horses.
The older qualifiers will be split based on their ratings at the time of withdrawals for the meeting to create fair, competitive contests.
Preferential barrier draws will apply for all events on ratings and stakes with the two-year-old and three-year-old events also seeing fillies drawing inside colts and geldings.
The prizemoney will be split $50,000 to the winner, $15,000 for second, $10,000 for third, $5000 for fourth and $2500 for all other starters.
Connections of horses must pay a $100 nomination fee for the Golden Gait and the accumulation of points will start on Friday night if the payment and entry form have been submitted in advance.
The loyalty programme will run until November 15 with the Golden Gait race meeting to be held on November 29 at Alexandra Park.
The initiative comes as the heavily in debt club attempts to stem the decline in horses racing at the Park.
Just 70 horses will contest the 10 races there on Friday night and only three of those have enough starters to allow three place dividends - four races have only six runners and three have seven.
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Ray: Sammy Lincoln has ‘turned the corner’ and can go on with it on Friday night
Our runners this week: How our trainer rates them
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Angelic Copy
4.53pm
“She’s done everything right and trialled really nicely. I think she’s forward enough to give some cheek. She’s only small. You like to think when you get a good two-year-old like her that they’ll get stronger and transition into a nice three-year-old but she hasn’t grown an inch. But she tries hard and enjoys being out there.”
Race 2: Major Copy
5.28pm
“I’m looking forward to seeing him. You never really know ’til you get to the races but he’s trialled well enough to start and I wouldn’t be surprised if he went a good race, despite the draw. He’s a nice sensible colt who’s done nothing wrong and he could develop into a really nice three-year-old.”
Race 6: Lincoln Wave
7.22pm
“He was starting to get into the habit of switching off so we trained him in blinds this week and he went pretty well. He was good from a standing start at the trials with shorteners in and Maurice was actually quite bullish about his standing start manners and thinks that, in time, he’ll end up being a quick beginner. If he steps well, and can land in the first one or two, he’ll definitely be hard to get round.”
Race 6: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.22pm
“He’s not spectacular from a stand but he will get away, albeit sometimes a bit slowly. Lincoln Wave has more speed than him but if it comes down to a slugfest he’d be too strong as he’s rock hard fit.”
Race 8: Prince Lincoln
8.23pm
“The blinds go back on this week and if he steps and leads like he did three starts ago that would make him the one to beat. He showed with that win that he’s above average and will be a serious chance.”
Race 8: Rivergirl Bella
8.23pm
“You could argue she’s a Cambridge horse but sometimes when you throw them in with the bear cats they lift their game and I thought she was really good here last week. Tony (Cameron) said she’d have finished a bit closer too if he hadn’t had to take hold of her close to home (when he ran out of room and hit a marker pole).”
Race 8: Sammy Lincoln
8.23pm
“We’ve got blinds on him this week. Harry said he lost concentration a couple of times last week, including at the top of the straight, and thought he’d be a bit more on to it with blinds on. I still thought his was the run of the race last time - none of the others could have done what he did - and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score.”
