Prize boost makes nights to remember

The Danny O’Brien trained Keep De Rose scores a decisive win in the 2013 Inglis Pinker Pinker Plate. This year’s edition of the $100,000 race for fillies and mares will kick start Cranbourne’s night racing season on Friday 10 October. 107772 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

THE Cranbourne Turf Club (CTC) has announced a number of enhancements to its Friday night meetings for the 2014-15 season including an increase in the minimum prizemoney from $17,500 to $20,000 and the introduction of two new race series.
The CTC has announced the introduction of a new Mile Series which will run across five meetings starting Friday 17 April 2015 and culminating in a night finale to be held on Friday 29 May 2015.
The Mile Series will be complemented by the five race Sky Heights Stayers Series, to be run across the same five meetings, named in honour of four time Group 1 winner Sky Heights who was trained at CTC and won the 1999 Caulfield Cup.
CTC chief executive Neil Bainbridge said he was delighted with the increase to minimum prizemoney levels and the assistance from Racing Victoria.
“Night racing at Cranbourne now plays a very important role in the Victorian racing industry and the increase to minimum prizemoney levels is a great outcome for everyone involved, especially participants that strongly support these meetings,” Bainbridge said.
“We are delighted to introduce the Mile Series and Sky Heights Stayers Series this season.
“Sky Heights was truly a great horse trained here at Cranbourne and we are keen to develop the Sky Heights Stayers Series as one of the club’s feature events on its annual racing calendar.
“This is a great opportunity to develop two new race series and create a program that will build towards the final night meeting of the season held at Cranbourne on the last Friday in May each year.”
The first of CTC’s 20 night meetings will be held on Friday 10 October headlined by the $100,000 Fillies and Mares Inglis Pinker Pinker Plate.