EXCITEMENT is building around the Cooma-Monaro region as final preparations are made for this Saturday's Cooma Races. The Cooma Monaro Race Club expects a crowd of more than 4,000 people to descend on the Ti Tree Racecourse for the race day, which includes two feature races, the Cooma Cup over 1600 metres and the Sundowners Cup over 1400 metres.
The first race of the day, a rating 57 handicap over 1000m will be run at 1.30pm. The first of the feature races, the Sundowners Cup sponsored by Cooma Ex Services Club is placed fourth on the programme. The race is a Maiden Plate so the field is wide open with no previous form on the board. The Cup has been run since 1993 and commemorates the 1959 film shot on the Monaro, The Sundowners.
The Cooma Cup is the fifth race on the programme and is one of the longest running in Australian history dating back to 1854. Strike Me Happy and Old Mystique are likely to start with the shortest odds.
The final race on the program is the class 1 Handicap over 1600 metres. Dexter's Angel and Gone Golfin should be favoured by the bookies to finish the day strongly.
Cooma Race Club chairman Mick Schofield believes a good day's racing should be on offer.
"The track was really hard and dusty before the recent rain, but it has now softened up and is in top condition," he said.
Mr Schofield said the public would be impressed with the calibre of horses on offer with strong fields in preliminary scheduling for each of the six races.
"We have horses competing from the Monaro area as well as Canberra, Moroya, Bega and other parts of NSW," he said.
In the first race Cooma-trained horse Clang Went Bang is expected to be a sentimental favourite. When the TAB odds are released tomorrow Gee Kay and Horsely Park are likely to be favoured by bookies.
Race two, the Maiden Handicap, will also be run over 1000 metres with Absolutely None listed as the heaviest weighted horse on track. Race three will be run over 1200 metres and with an open field bookies will probably look at installing Brezina, Copy City, Heroic Quest or Patriot Lad as favourite.
Mr Schofield and his team of volunteers have been busy preparing for the event.
"All the grounds have been mowed, more than 30 marques have been set-up to cater for Cooma businesses attending the event, a new ladies jockey room and womens toilets have been installed. A lot of effort is going into preparing for the big day," Mr Schofield said.
Entry to the racecourse will be $15 for adults, concessions $8 and children under 16 are free.
To attend the races you can take the historic train, which is leaving the Cooma Railway station at 20-minute intervals from 10am. A $20 ticket includes return travel and entry to the races. Bus services will collect racegoers from a number of the Cooma hotels between 11am and 11.30am.
Local and interstate racing action will commence on the big screen at 12.10pm with the first Cooma race to kick-off at 1.30pm.
Official race day odds are not available until Saturday, so any potential favourites listed in this article should be treated as an indication only.
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