By Victoria Stone-Meadows
THE Cranbourne Cup has a new running date after the usual meeting date was cancelled in October due to wild weather.
Racing Victoria (RV) announced on Tuesday 15 November that the TAB Cranbourne Cup and Procon Developments Apache Cat Classic have been rescheduled to Friday 3 March 2017.
The shift of these races from spring to the autumn racing calendar is a temporary shuffling of the schedules, and the races will be run on their regular dates during the 2017 Spring Carnival.
There will also be some changes to the races themselves, with the lengths of the races being altered along with the meeting dates.
The Cranbourne Cup meeting on 3 March 2017 will be held as an Open Handicap race over 1600m, but will return to the traditional 2025m length in October 2017.
The Apache Cat Classic will also be an Open Handicap run over 1200m, and will also return to its customary length of 1000m when it returns to its usual spot during the Spring Carnival.
RV Racing Operations manager Paul Bloodworth said he was pleased to be able to offer the Cranbourne Turf Club a chance to host their feature races after the weather ruined their earlier meet.
“We are delighted to be able to secure a place in the program this racing season for a revamped TAB Cranbourne Cup and Procon Developments Apache Cat Classic after the disappointment for the club and local community with the abandonment of last month’s Cup meeting in such unique circumstances,” he said.
“The 2016-’17 TAB Cranbourne Cup will now be conducted on the eve of the Australian Guineas meeting at Flemington, ensuring a huge weekend of racing that will further enhance the quality product on offer in Victoria throughout the late summer/early autumn period.”
Cranbourne Turf Club CEO Neil Bainbridge said while the club was devastated with the loss of the meet this year, the club was excited to run the race under lights for the first time.
“We thank Racing Victoria and Country Racing Victoria for their support in allowing the club to reschedule our premier race day this season,” he said.
“The March running of the TAB Cranbourne Cup forms part of a big autumn for the club as we celebrate our 150th anniversary on Friday, 21 April 2017.”
The full program for the meeting will be published in the January 2017 edition of Inside Racing magazine, and be available online at Racing.com.
