ALBURY Racing Club chief executive Steve Hetherton hopes 'The Twilight' can establish itself as a permanent fixture on the Southern District calendar.
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The Albury club this week announced the introduction of a new feature race, worth $30,000 to begin with, named The Twilight.
It will be the feature of a new Friday twlight race date allocated to the club on November 6, in the place of it's traditional Oaks day TAB meeting.
The race will be an 1175 metre set weights feature for three and four-year-olds, which will carry ballot exemptions to either the Albury Guineas or City Handicap in March the next year. Horses must have two starts in country NSW to be eligible.
Hetherton hopes it could be the start of an exciting new race for the region.
"It gives us something different to offer our members, sponsors and general public," Hetherton said.
"It's a beautiful time of year weather wise, generally, it's spring, it's a Friday night, so what we're hoping to do is attract a crowd that might want to generally go out after work and party on afterwards, come to the races and start, have a few beverages, a bit of food, enjoy the atmosphere of something a little bit different. Maybe people that haven't been to the races before, get them along, and born out of that was the race.
"We want to make it a feature race for the day and grow that. The Twilight. While it's only a $30,000 race now, with good crowds and good support on wagering, we're hopeful we can grow that day both crowd wise and the race itself and lift the prizemoney in years to come and grow it into a race one that trainers and owners may see on the calendar and want to have a crack at."
The race will be held a week before the $100,000 Snake Gully Cup (1400m) at Gundagai and Hetherton said the club was mindful not to go up against any existing features.
"We've tried not to subtract from current races that are in the program. The obvious would have been to have an open sprint, but there's open sprints around already," he said.
"It's a three and four-year-old race, which is something different and the weight scale might make it interesting."
Hetherton said the introduction of The Twilight was part of his push to experiment with new ideas.
"We need something new and different and exciting to attract people along and make it our own and not just piggy back on the back of a metro meeting," he said.
"Albury Racing Club is trying new things, at the risk of, they may fail, they may not work but we are trying new things and we are trying to find the next day that we can pencil in the calendar for years to come.
"We're not just going to sit back and be happy with mediocrity, we want something that stands out and attracts bigger crowds, and in that, younger people as well."
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KOSCIUSZKO second favourite Front Page will make a rare Southern District appearance when he steps out in a barrier trial at Murrumbidgee Turf Club on Saturday.
Corowa trainer Geoff Duryea has elected to trial Front Page at Wagga on Saturday as the four-year-old's final hit-out leading into the $1.3 million feature race.
Front Page resumed at Caulfield on September 19 with a gallant second placing behind From Within. He trial on Saturday and then go straight to The Kosciuszko (1200m) at Randwick on October 17.
"He's definitely going to barrier trial," Duryea said.
"Then hopefully, if everything goes according to plan, his next start will be at Randwick."
Front Page will represent Wagga's William Farrer Hotel's Super Punters Club (SPC) slot in the feature race.
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MURRUMBIDGEE Turf Club treasurer Brett Bradley has another good horse on his hands.
Bradley and wife Andrea are part-owners of Ole Kirk, who won the group one Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill last Saturday.
Bradley is no stranger to big race success and has enjoyed a big 12 months having also been a part-owner of Japanese mare Lys Gracieux, who won last year's Cox Plate. He also bred last year's Everest winner, Yes Yes Yes.
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KOSCIUSZKO contender Lord Von Costa will make his return to the track at Randwick on Saturday.
Lord Von Costa is one of eight acceptors in the $500,000 group two Premiere Stakes (1200m).
Lord Von Costa has drawn barrier two with Blaike McDougall to make the trip to Sydney to ride.
Lord Von Costa, who has a spot in the Kosciuszko, will take on Everest bound sprinters Nature Strip and Classique Legend on Saturday but trainer Donna Scott expecting sharp improvement from whatever he produces first-up.
McDougall has also picked up a couple of other rides on a big day at Randwick.
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ALBURY trainer John Whitelaw enjoyed feature race success with The Doctor's Son on the weekend.
Blaike McDougall steered The Doctor's Son to victory in the $80,000 The Panorama (1300m) on Bathurst Gold Cup day.
It was a big return from The Doctor's Son, who had been given seven weeks between runs after a first-up third placing at Wagga in August.
The win again proved the versatility of The Doctor's Son, who has won from 900m to 1800m in his 16-start career.
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TALENTED mare Takookacod has been retired.
The six-year-old mare ran her last race at Leeton on Monday, where she finished fourth behind Bombdiggity in the Stan Axtill Memorial (1150m).
Owner Noel Penfold will now send the mare to the breeding barn.
Takookacod won five races for Wagga trainer Scott Spackman, with the highlight being a win in the 2018 Wagga Town Plate Prelude (1200m), where she went on to run sixth behind Coolring in the feature.
She also proved competitive at listed and group level, earning $113,000 from her 33 starts.
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RACING NSW announced further easing of border restrictions this week.
Horses travelling from Victoria back to NSW now only have to spend three hours in a spelling paddock or pre-training facility before returning to the stable, as opposed to the 48 hours it had been for the past month.
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THE Cootamundra Cup will take centre stage in the Southern District over the long weekend.
Sunday's $27,000 Cootamundra Cup (1600m) has attracted 16 nominations, headed by the likes of Carluca, Gentleman Max and Contaminated.
Warwick Farm trainers Gary Portelli and Marc Connors have the race in their sights with First Lady and Sensacova both among the nominations.
The Cup meeting is closed to the general public due to COVID restrictions, but owners can attend and are encouraged to pre-register via email to cootaturfclub@gmail.com
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WHAT'S ON
GALLOPS
Saturday: Wagga (TAB)
Sunday: Cootamundra (TAB)
TROTS
Friday: Wagga (TAB)
Tuesday: Temora (TAB)
DOGS
Friday: Wagga (TAB)
