Harness racing return to Wayville Showgrounds deemed roaring success

HARNESS racing turned back time — about 50 years’ worth, in fact — as the sport again took centre stage on a Friday night in Adelaide.

Crowds flocked back to the Adelaide Showgrounds for the return of harness racing at Wayville

HARNESS racing turned back time — about 50 years’ worth, in fact — as the sport again took centre stage on a Friday night in Adelaide.

For the first time since 1973, the tiny Wavyille circuit hosted an official harness racing meeting and, judging by the buzz in the crowd of around 8000, it was a resounding success.

And harness racing officials now hope to make the night an annual event, with planning already in place to lock in a date for next year.

“The crowd was very good. We’re thrilled,” Harness Racing SA chief executive John Lewis said.

“We are absolutely delighted with the conduct of the event, the venue and the response from the people of South Australia.

“We’re already planning to have this event as an annual feature and hope to firm up a date for next year within the coming months.”

Driver Kate Gath, who won the Trotters Cup on Waikare Aviator, was full of praise for the night.

“It was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe the noise rounding the home turn in the trotters cup,” Gath said.

“It was louder than the Victoria Cup or Hunter Cup.”

Competition was certainly fierce across the eight races, with fans lining the 510m track and filling the grandstands.

It seemed many of Friday night’s racegoers were Wayville regulars when the city-fringe circuit was Adelaide’s main track, from 1925 to 1973, and a night at the trots was one of the hottest tickets in town.

During those halcyon days, crowds beyond 20,000 were common, with the record attendance of 47,000 achieved on the night the champion New Zealand pacer Cardigan Bay won the 1963 Inter Dominion.

While Friday night’s crowd didn’t threaten that astonishing record, it was still the best-attended harness meet in this state for at least 20 years.

“We’ll go through the final figures over the next few weeks but, at this stage, we're looking at a modest surplus ... but even if we broke even or made a small loss, the exercise has absolutely been worth it,” Lewis said.

“The exposure the sport has received been fantastic. In my seven years in this role, I can’t recall the sport having such widespread, mainstream coverage.

“Even just in terms of a brand-building exercise, it has been a huge success.”