‘IT’S A GOER’: Turf Club confirms Cup Day date

Rain, hail, or pandemic - Warwick’s spring carnival season is set to kick off with a bang.

TRACKSIDE: Allman Park will light up on Saturday, October 10 for the annual Warwick Credit Union Cup Day. Picture: contributed

HORSE RACING: Warwick’s spring carnival season remains undeterred by the coronavirus, with one of Allman Park’s biggest racing and social events of the year now locked in.

The annual Warwick Credit Union Cup Day has been confirmed for Saturday, October 10, though ongoing restrictions could see it look slightly different than usual.

Warwick Turf Club president Phil Grant said last week’s TAB Race Day inspired confidence for the October event, and hoped mainstays such as the fashion parade would still go ahead.

“We were very surprised with the attendance on the Monday, so it just goes to show people are interested in their racing and they want to get out and make a day of it,” Grant said.

“The Cup Day is definitely a goer – so far as we’re concerned, we’re all systems go.

“We normally have a couple of thousand people come at least, but we’re yet to see what the COVID regulations will be by the time the races are on.”

With Allman Park now officially listed as a Tier 2 track under Racing Queensland, Grant said this year’s Cup Day would likely see several more trainers from Brisbane and the Gold Coast in attendance.

“All of our race meetings, bar one, will be TAB meetings now, which hopefully means we’ll get looked after a bit better now,” Grant said.

“We do have a loyal group of trainers in northern NSW who do come to some of our race days, so unfortunately for them it looks like they’ll miss out on the day, at this stage.

“We never have a shortage of nominations though, normally 25 to 30 horses per race, so if (the NSW trainers) miss out, it just means we’ll give more Queenslanders a run.”

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