NEWCASTLE will stage its first Group 2 race in more than two decades next month.
Newcastle Jockey Club’s major sprint, the $1m The Hunter (1300m), has attained Group 2 status.
The Australian Racing Board’s Pattern Committee, as well as giving The Hunter an important upgrade, also has upgraded two other provincial races.
Newcastle’s The Beauford (2300m), also to be run at The Hunter meeting on November 16, now has Listed race status, and Illawarra Turf Club’s $1m The Gong (1600m), a week later, is now a Group 3 event.
Both The Hunter and The Gong are the highlight of Saturday metropolitan stand-alone meetings at Newcastle and Kembla Grange respectively, and were introduced by RacingNSW in 2019.
Newcastle Jockey Club chief executive Duane Dowell on Wednesday hailed the upgrades for both races as a “great result”.
“We had some information a while back that this might be happening, and had to keep quiet about it,” Dowell said.
“To get Group 2 status for The Hunter is fantastic news, and it’s also a real boost for our middle-distance race The Beauford.
“The Hunter is a terrific race and continues to attract the top sprinters each year.
“Our next goal is to get black type for the Max Lees Classic (900m), which is also run at The Hunter meeting for two-year-olds.
“The statistics are strong enough to back up our quest to achieve that.”
The Newcastle Gold Cup (2300m) was the last Group 2 race to be run at Broadmeadow. The Cup carried that status from 1985 to 2001 before reverting to its current Group 3 status.
The list of winners for both the Group 2 The Hunter and Group 3 The Gong is as follows:
THE HUNTER
2019 – SAVATIANO (James Cummings/James McDonald)
2020 – SWEET DEAL (John Thompson/Nash Rawiller)
2021 – LOST AND RUNNING (John O’Shea/Hugh Bowman)
2022 – VILANA (James Cummings/Nash Rawiller)
2023 – COAL CRUSHER (Joe Pride/Tyler Schiller)
THE GONG
2019 – MISTER SEA WOLF (Chris Waller/James McDonald)
2020 – ARCHEDEMUS (Team Hawkes/Jay Ford)
2021 – COUNT DE RUPEE (Rob & Luke Price/Brock Ryan)
2022 – RIODINI (Gai Waterhouse Adrian Bott/Tim Clark)
2023 – DETONATOR JACK (Ciaron Maher & David Eustace/Jason Collett)
Story John Curtis, October 9, 2024
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