No Gold Cup this season

The Invercargill Gold Cup will not be held this season.

It was to be run at Ascot Park on February 20. However, the stayers' event was among seven races abandoned that day because of shifty track conditions.

Southland Racing Club officials had thought of running the Cup at its final meeting of the season on March 21. That meeting will be held at Gore to allow more repair work to be done to the Ascot Park track.

Members of the club's committee decided on Monday night not to reschedule the Cup this season.

They agreed the Cup should be held on the club's home track at Ascot Park and not at any other course. It will now be run twice next season - in December and February.

It is not common for a feature race to be contested twice in a season, but the committee did not want to wait a year and have no Cup winner for 2010.

Trainers were contacted by the club for opinion on whether the distance of the Cup should be 2600m or 2000m.

They were divided, club president Sean Bellew said.

Another factor in not holding the Cup on March 21 was that for some horses, it could have been too close to the $75,000 Riverton Cup on April 3.

Racing on March 21 might not have fitted into training and race programmes of some horses being set for the Riverton Cup.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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