Cup sets a popular pace

By Glen Atwell
IF history is anything to go by, December is the right month for the Cranbourne Pacing Cup.
The $50,000 Group 2 event has found a comfortable home on a Saturday night in early December, according to Cranbourne Harness Racing Club chief executive Jacquie Gluck.
“This will be the third consecutive year that we’ve staged our premier meeting in the pre-Christmas time slot and the results speak for themselves," she said.
Last year, the attendance at the Cranbourne Pacing Cup meeting grew by 50 per cent and on-course turnover increased by staggering 48 per cent.
Since the meeting was moved from its former March date, attendances have more than doubled.
Ms Gluck said the community support had been overwhelming, but the response from the harness racing industry had also been very positive.
“The profile of the race is growing all the time and the quality of the competitors we are seeing, not only in the cup, but also the support program, is testimony to the excellent reputation our club now enjoys,” she said.
High-class Queensland mare Sparkling Melody took top honours in last year’s Cranbourne Cup and subsequently went on to finish fourth behind champion pacer Sokyola in the $300,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup at Moonee Valley a fortnight later.
Quality square-gaiter Sammy Do Good won the 2004 Cranbourne Trotters’ Cup then backed up six days later to claim Group-1 glory in the $50,000 Bill Collins Trotters’ Mile at the Valley.
He was recently named Victorian Trotter of the Year for the 2004/05 season, in addition to being named a joint winner of the Australian Trotter of the Year title.
In 2003, New Zealand raider Mister DG triumphed in the Cranbourne Cup and just over two months later achieved the highlight of his racing career when he won the $400,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup – the world’s richest standing start event for pacers.
This year’s Cranbourne Pacing Cup meeting is scheduled for this Saturday night.
The winner of this year’s feature will once again be exempt from ballot for the $300,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup at Moonee Valley on December 17.
The support program is headlined by the Cranbourne Trotters’ Cup that this year enjoys Group-3 status for the first time following a stake increase from $15,000 to $20,000.