It will be on for young and old in Sunday’s North East Fasteners Wangaratta Pacing Cup, when a full, even field will battle for line honours in the club’s annual racing pinnacle.
A picture-perfect 27-degree is forecast to greet race goers who turn out for Sunday’s twilight cup, with the headliner at 8.17pm on the seven-race twilight card.
Looming large over the cup is Bacchus Marsh-trained four-year-old Joe Nien, who has drawn to burst from gate one and lead for trainer Jess Tubbs and reinsman Greg Sugars, the team hoping to build on their gelding’s break-out season that has delivered five wins and two placings from nine starts.
A victory on the Trots Country Cups Championship circuit would be a significant notch on the Echuca-bred gelding’s belt, but there will be no shortage of challengers bidding to wrestle the crown from her clutches.
Chief among them may well be an old grey mare with 251 more starts in the book in Hollys Miss Molly, who will step out for start 297 and looms as a likely contender for the crown.
The fast-finishing mare, a winner of 35 starts and $251,256 in stakes, was fourth and beaten only 3.6m when rated a $26-chance in last year’s track record breaking Wangaratta cup, and has drawn to take advantage of her withering final sprint on Sunday.
The nine-year-old mare will emerge from the inside of the second row and can follow Joe Nien through, getting a cushy ride on the pegs over the 2210m cup distance before having a big crack at the win in the final straight.
It promises to be a showdown worthy of its headline status for Sunday’s showcase, when club secretary Bernadette Costantino said they were looking forward to building on the success of their January trotting cup.
“(The trotting cup) was excellent, God blessed us with the weather – it was about 28 degrees, fantastic after our two weeks of 40 degrees-plus,” Ms Costantino said.
“We had over 1000 people in attendance and everything went off perfectly. The locals are really supportive of us and, definitely, having (the pacing cup on this) long weekend is a huge bonus for us.”
There will plenty to lure both race goers and locals to the track, with off-track attractions including the pony trots, a mechanical bucking bull, jumping castle, face painting and DJ Steve Bowen.
“We are a very basic club, we are like the old-fashioned country football (clubs), where you have chairs up at the fence and take away food. Everyone’s very relaxed – it’s just a great, family fun-filled evening.”
Gates open from 5pm at Avian Park Raceway.
Trots Media