ON THE PACE: Riverina carnival set for date change

The first edition of the Riverina Championships was held as an afternoon programme on Easter Sunday in 2021 before a very successful switch to night time racing on Easter Saturday.

However with Easter falling in March this year, a change has been made to avoid a clash with the Bathurst Gold Crown.

It sets up a bumper weekend of feature racing with Bathurst's group one carnival concluding on March 28 followed by the finals of Wagga's two four and five-year-old features the following day.

Riverina Paceway president Barry McColl is looking to make the changes work for the club.

"Bathurst have had that date for a long time and we're a supportive club," McColl said.

"It is what it is and we've got to make the necessary adjustments."

McColl doesn't expect the change to affect what has always been a well-supported meeting.

"I can't foresee any reason why we shouldn't have a great crowd," he said.

"The finals are worth a lot of money, the horses will be known and easy to publicise and given favourable weather conditions I would like to think we will certainly have a bigger crowd than we would normally.

"It's pinnacle racing."

The heats of the four and five-year-old features have also been reshuffled.

Now they will be on the Tuesday leading into Easter with the two $100,000 finals to be run five days later.

The date change means the club has lost their standalone Saturday meeting.

It is part of the reason why the club is considering shifting the Wagga Pacers Cup to a different meeting.

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WAGGA trainer Paul Kahlefeldt pulled off a trifecta at Wangaratta on Sunday.

Kahlefeldt sent three horses to the races and they managed to fight out the finish in the same race.

Glamour Fox held off No More Promises to win by a half head.

All So Sassy was a further 3.4 metres away.

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JANARTY has extended his strong run of form since leaving the Riverina.

Still owned in the region, the seven-year-old made it two wins and two seconds from four starts for former Temora trainer Jarrod Alchin at Menangle on Saturday night.

He set a new best mile rate of 1:51.9 in the process.

First up from his Blacks A Fake win, the Riverina bred Swayzee returned with a win at Menangle on Saturday.

He's now won all of his seven races since moving to former Young trainer Jason Grimson's care.

Another Redbank Standardbred Lodge-bred horse, Nathan Street, also took out a NSW Breeders Challenge two-year-old colts and geldings semi-final.

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AROMET Girl has qualified for another group one final.

After a fourth in the Bathurst Gold Crown, and a second at group two level, the filly trained in Temora by Garry Harpley booked her place in the NSW Breeders Challenge two-year-old fillies final with a fourth in her semi-final at Menangle on Saturday.

The Riverina-owned Libby Lou finished third in the same final to also book for place in the $150,000 final next Sunday.

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THE WEST Wyalong Pacers Cup will be the feature of the club's meeting on Friday.

An eight-race card has been assembled with the first at 5.13pm.

Albury then races on Tuesday.