MURRUMBIDGEE Turf Club president Geoff Harrison could not be happier with the field for Friday's $200,000 Wagga Gold Cup (2000m).
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The field for the feature race was released on Wednesday and the barrier draw that followed boosted the chances of most metropolitan visitors making the trip.
As expected, Chris Waller accepted with three horses, headed by $3.60 favourite Yonkers, while the stables Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Mark Newnham, Hayes-Dabernig and Kris Leees are among those represented.
"Very happy," was Harrison's reaction.
"Just looking at it, compared to what's been drawn at Gosford on Saturday, everybody's fared pretty well even so I think with the longer straight here, and the bigger track, hopefully the Sydney guys do come.
"It's a great field and I don't think it will drop off much at all."
Harrison believes the club has done a good job attracting strong fields across the two days, particuarly when there has been a lot of rival meetings.
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"When you look at the amount of acceptances there has been at Gosford and Hawkesbury over the last three or four meetings, we've had a lot of competition, even Kembla on Thursday, Coffs Harbour on Friday, Warrnambool gets the Victorian ones, so we're more than happy with the overall quality of it," he said.
"As far as crowd numbers go, it's building up to be one of the best we've ever had."
While pleased with the fields, Harrison also added that he is not surprised by the club's ability to attract top horses.
"That's the track and conditions that we've got here," he said.
"We have been attracting them as we go through the year and it's good to see they're supporting us over the carnival. But my hat goes off to Mark Hart for how the track has been presented and how he's put the effort into it over the last six weeks with the dry weather. He's kept it dry and just put enough water into it to make it work."
Harrison also thanked the Wagga community for their support with pre-sale tickets, ensuring this year's Gold Cup day will be a success.
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