Rich prizemoney, strong fields and some of the sport's big names are all set to draw a crowd at Sunday's formal opening of the Riverina Paceway.
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After a couple of low-key meetings at the Cartwrights Hill venue, the new home of harness racing is set to announce its arrival in style with a 10-race card and close to $130,000 in prizemoney.
"As far as crowd estimates go, how do you put a figure on it? Everyone's talking about it so we expect thousands. It's very exciting," Wagga Harness Racing Club chief executive Graeme White said.
White said trainers are bringing horses from as far as Tamworth, Sydney and Victoria for the meeting and he expects to see a slick new mile-rate record set, around the 1'52 mark.
All races carry at least $10,000 in prizemoney, with four worth just under $16,000.
"It's very good prizemoney and that attracts the good horses," White said.
"And we've got four local races, which is very important."
The first race is at 12.04pm.
White was quick to point out Sunday's event is just the start of what he hopes is a reinvigorated future for the sport in the region. .
"This will be a forerunner to our Carnival of Cups which will be held on Easter Sunday, April 21. Then 12 months after that is our Group 1 carnival," he said.
After years of preparations, he said it's a thrill to see the new venue up and running and it's festival opening set to unfold.
"I've been excited for weeks. I've had many sleepless nights, with all the things you think of," he said.
"But it's all come together. It's just a credit to everyone involved. It's just a magnificent facility. Every time I come out here I look at it and I think, it's just out of this world, and it's only going to get better, especially the track."
White recalls the re-opening of the previous track at the Showgrounds in the early 1990s was one of Wagga's biggest harness racing meetings, and hopes that history will be repeated this weekend.
"They're terrific fields and just a magnificent facility. I can't praise Ladex enough for the job they've done," he said.
"And the work put in by the committee led by our president Terry McMillian and our vice-president Brian Hay has been exceptional. We're just looking forward to everyone celebrating the day."
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