Wangaratta’s shock Country Champs omission down to bad timing
THE Wangaratta Turf Club was a surprising omission from the Country Cup Championships recently announced by the VRC, but WTC manager Paul Hoysted is not taking the news personally.
Wangaratta is considered one of the premiere racetracks in Victoria outside of the metropolitan areas, which led to many questioning the decision to leave the WTC out of the lead-in events.
Hoysted told HorseBetting.com.au that while he only just learned of the Country Cup Championship model on Thursday morning, the decision to leave his club out of the lead-in races did not surprise him.
“I was only just taking a look at it this morning… it was complete news to us,” the WTC manager said.
“When I did take a look at the race days where these races are being held, they are on Geelong Cup Day, Bendigo Cup day, so they are on the club’s major days where it would make sense to have one of those championship race days.”
“Our key date is right in the middle of Melbourne’s Spring Carnival, so it’s really bad timing from our perspective.”
Wangaratta currently has one of the more popular cup days on the Victorian racing calendar, but the conflicting date of holding their showcase event on the same day as the Melbourne Cup does not help.
Hoysted said that he would have liked to include Wangaratta in the championship schedule, but given the circumstances it would be an onerous task.
“Our Cup day is actually Melbourne Cup day and their cups are in the autumn, so it doesn’t really suit for us.
“Having said that, Racing Victoria is great with the support they have given us, so we’re not going to complain too much about it.”
The Country Championships concept is one that has helped boost the profile of racing in NSW away from the metropolitan areas and Racing Victoria will be hoping their new initiative can have a similar impact in Victoria.
Hoysted said that if this new concept is successful there is no reason to think another championship style event can be implemented in the future that includes Wangaratta.
“It definitely could be done, I wouldn’t say no,” Hoysted joked.
“It would just be about making sure you have a decent date within that period.
“You’d need a really good October race date to be having these events on.”
“Now that we are aware of it, it is definitely something will want to put forward to the VRC and push hard for in the future.”