Perth to stage first Good Friday race meeting in Australia

WESTERN Australia will break with tradition and hold a race meeting on Good Friday, leaving Christmas Day as the only race-free day in Australia.

CHRISTMAS Day will become the only race-free day throughout Australia with the announcement Perth is to host the first thoroughbred race meeting on Good Friday.

The meeting, to be held at Western Australia’s premier racetrack Ascot, will feature the Group 2 $200,000 WA Sires’ Produce Stakes.

Good Friday has historically always been a non-racing date and there are no other thoroughbred meetings scheduled across the country on April 14.

Racing will begin at 1.30pm (Perth time) with eight races to be decided.

Racing and Wagering Western Australia joins several other organisations to stage sporting events on Good Friday this year.

“AFL, rugby league and soccer matches will all be played on Good Friday in Australia this year and it is clear from not only those events but also our own consultation process, community attitudes to the day have changed,” David Hunter, RWWA’s manager, racing commercial and planning, said

Already on Good Friday the AFL has the Round 4 twilight clash between North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs, while Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners meet in the A-League.

The NRL rounds out the big three with three night games — Bulldogs versus Rabbitohs, Storm and the Sharks and a contest in Auckland between the Warriors and Eels.

The Perth meeting has been endorsed by the state’s thoroughbred racing industry stakeholders.

Racing is headed to Ascot on Good Friday in an Australian first.

Originally published as Perth to stage first Good Friday race meeting in Australia