The Invercargill Harness Racing Club is holding its annual festive meet at Ascot Park Raceway on December 22nd, 2023. Racing, fashion and Christmas fun await! This year a new race has been introduced, the Canada Stakes for three-year-old fillies. A total of NZ$375,000 worth of stakes is up for grabs throughout the day.
Race day fun for everyone at the 2023 Invercargill Cup Day.
©Ulrick Trappschuh/Pexels
The Canada Stakes
The latest race addition to the Invercargill Cup Day is named in honour of the terminally ill daughter of Southern Harness Racing’s General Manager. Jason Broad’s daughter Canada will be at the track on the day presenting trophies, flower garlands and dress rugs. Prize money for her race will be $25,000.
“This race will be an annual event and the Club and Southern Harness urge trainers to support it and other feature races on the day, it’s a tough journey for us as a family at the moment and this is something both Canada and I were keen to do. I would like to acknowledge Harness Racing NZ, the Invercargill HRC and Southern Harness for making it happen, also Blair Orange for canvassing trainers to make them aware of this new race.”
Southern Harness Racing manages the admin and provides racing management to about a quarter of New Zealand’s harness racing clubs. They manage Invercargill Racing Club Inc. who is hosting the Cup.
Group 1 Champions
Last year the 2022 Cup’s coup was attracting a Group 1 race. It’s inaugural running was the first ever Group 1 harness race in South New Zealand. The winning horse was Krug who was trained and driven by the Dalgety family. Cran and Chrissie Dalgety, the trainers, have over a hundred wins and 150 places under their belts. Their son, Carter, drove Krug to first place. They may return this year, to maintain their title.
Some Light-hearted Fun
A new sweepstake, which began last year, will take place at the Cup again in 2023. The crowd-pleasing competition had on-course patrons place their losing tickets or race book coupons in buckets around the course, with their names and phone numbers hand-written on the back. This year the sweepstakes will be drawn right before Race 5, about halfway through the 11 race day. Each ticket or coupon drawn will be assigned to a horse in Race 5.
The person assigned to the winning horse of Race 5 will receive $1,000 to spend betting on the Ascot Park Hotel Invercargill Cup, Race 11!
Ladies Fashion in the Field is also returning this year. Registration will only be on course, until Race 3. Prizes for the fashion competition are stated to be “great” but details will only be made available on the day. Last year, winners of the Fashion in the Field events won flowers, jewellery vouchers and fancy champagne. The final will take place in the birdcage late evening on Cup Day.
The Cup
According to Harness Racing New Zealand, the Group 1 Cup race has a total of $110,000 in prizes. First place will receive $60,500 plus the trophy, flower garland and dress rug. Place and shows will receive prizes from $17,050 down to $1,925. The day has free entry. The first race will commence at 12:55 pm and the 3200m Cup is scheduled for 5:04 pm. The Cup will take place as day turns to night and is touted as “a Twilight Meeting”.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with gambling, make sure to get in touch with the Gambling Helpline or the Problem Gambling Foundation of NZ. The Gambling Helpline is open 24 hours and you can call, or just text, to speak with real counsellors who will give you a personalised response. Phone 0800 654 655 or text to 8006.
