Countdown on to racing comeback

TWEED River Jockey Club (TRJC) officials are reminding local trainers, owners and connections that nominations for next Monday ’s Mooball, Burringbar and Crabbes Creek Business Houses race meeting close with the Trainers Service Centre today at 11am.

Monday’s program at Murwillumbah will be the first at the track since the successful completion of the 2010 Murwillumbah Cup carnival in June.

Queensland gelding Rebounded was able to take out the big cup race while Gerald Ryan’s locally-trained mare Easy Play won the feature Newmarket sprint.

Following the carnival, Murwillumbah’s last scheduled meeting of the 2009-10 season had to be called off following protracted heavy rain in late July. As a consequence of the lay-off, the racing surface has had more than two months to recover from the mid-year carnival racing. TRJC officials told the Tweed Daily News they are very pleased with the good state of the track.

“It’s looking nice out there, and we’re looking to a big one on Monday to get us back in the swing of things,” said TRJC secretary-manager Steve Huggins.

“It will be the club’s first meeting of the new racing season and we’ve got a nice line-up of events and a feature cup race to kick things off.”

Monday’s meeting will carry $70,000 in prizemoney plus $63,000 in BOBS breeding bonuses to eligible runners, divided into seven events: Benchmark 70 handicap 2000m; Benchmark 50 handicap 1000m; Benchmark 50 handicap 1510m; Class 1 handicap 1200m (fillies and mares); Class 1 hcp 1200m (colts and geldings); Maiden handicap 1000m and Maiden plate 1510m.

The meeting will feature the running of the Victory Hotel Mooball Cup. More information will be released by the TRJC closer to race day.