Country cups ramping up
Winners from major races across Queensland will compete in metro race.
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HORSE RACING: In Charleville, the race that stops a nation is not the one that shuts down the town.
At Central Warrego Race Club, the Melbourne Cup takes a back seat to a far more important title: the Charleville Cup.
This year, winning the titular race will reward the jockey with more than money - they will also earn a place in the George Moore Stakes Day at Doomben later this year.
Part of Racing Queensland's new Country Cups Challenge, winning jockeys from 16 country cups will compete in the $70,000 metropolitan final.
Racing Queensland general manager of Racing (Thoroughbred) Simon Stout said the new series was a welcome addition to the new-look and highly successful Queensland Summer Racing Carnival.
"I welcome this new series as it provides Racing Queensland with another fabulous opportunity to showcase our regional participants, who are among the country's most talented and hard-working, to a nationwide audience,” he said.
"While the Battle of the Bush put the spotlight on some of the bush's most hardened sprinters, the Country Cups Challenge will act as a 'grand final' for Queensland's country cups circuit.”
Trackside, Central Warrego Race Club will be setting up from the early hours; last year, club president Brad Lines said they were on site from five in the morning.
At least 1000 punters are expected to attend this year, streaming through the gates from 11am. The Charleville Cup is the first race to run.
After this race meet, there are only a handful of Country Cups left to run.
Yeppoon and Cairns will run over the weekend, while Kumbia will also run on Tuesday.
The all-important Roma Cup will cap off the series and send one last jockey to Doomben in December.
Originally published as Country cups ramping up
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