Although there are a few things to finalised the decision has been made that the Invercargill Harness Racing Club will race on grass on Saturday 3rd March.
One of the main issues yet to be sorted is the distance of all the races. They will either be 2000 or 2100 metres. Course caretaker Warren Broad and local Stipe Liam Tidmarsh will look at dispatch points and talk about safety limits before distances are confirmed.
Southern Harness General Manager Jason Broad says if the weather's wet the meeting will be transferred to the all-weather surface as early as Wednesday of that week. If this is necessary, the distances raced will be 2200 metres.
The last time the Invercargill grass track was used for harness racing was in 1971.
The March meeting feature races will include a heat of the Country Cups ($12,000) for R60 and faster pacers, and a $12,000 Nugget Final. All other races will be raced for either $8,000 or $9,000.
Broad says some thought has been given to running a Grass Track Series with Oamaru, Gore and Waikouaiti.
Meanwhile a new race named The Southland Trotting Oaks, worth $20,000 is likely to be confirmed in the few weeks. Broad says final confirmation of sponsorship just needs to be signed off.
He says Haras des Trottuers have expressed an interest in supporting the race and the NZSB Association is very supportive and will help publicise it to the industry.
“It’s down to be raced at the Northern Southland Meeting in March which is two weeks before the New Zealand Trotting Oaks at Addington,” Broad says.
A total of $195,000 in stakes will be up for grabs on the day. The club will be holding the Group Three Yardhurst Hotel Northern Southland Cup, Group Three Southern Lights Trotting Handicap, Caduceus Club of Southland Fillies Pace and a $20,000 Super Nuggets Final. Broad says it's the second biggest day on the Southern racing calendar behind Diamonds Day in April.
All horses that finish first or second in any Nuggets race during the season are eligible for the Super Nugget Final.
Further Nugget heats have been programmed for Winton (31st December), Northern Southland (11th January), Wyndham (4th February) and Invercargill on the grass (3rd March).
The next heat of the Gold Chip trotting series will be held on Saturday 23rd December at the Wairio meeting at Winton.
Bruce Stewart
Southland Harness Racing