You can feel the buzz in the air.
Even people like me — hand on heart, I barely knew the difference between gallops and trots when I joined the Otago Daily Times 27 years ago — can get just a little excited about what looms at the Otago Racing Club’s mega meeting at Wingatui tomorrow.
The inaugural Property Brokers-sponsored Classics Day promises to be something quite special.
Take four significant trophies, add five other races, mix it up with a swag of entertainment, and top it off with the heftiest stakes in the history of Otago racing, and you have a recipe for success.
There is a feeling of rebirth around the New Zealand thoroughbred racing industry following the link with international betting agency Entain.
Stakes are up, new events are being created and much excitement is being generated around our horses, our jockeys, our trainers, our owners and our tracks.
And tomorrow, Wingatui takes centre stage.
Classics Day is not just about seeing some fine horses whistle down the track, or an excuse to get your finest attire on and enjoy some champers in the glorious Mosgiel sun.
It is a chance to appreciate the efforts of the southern racing community, who plug away around the clock, who love their horses like children, who have never lost their fierce passion for their code and belief it can not only survive but thrive.
Tomorrow might be a new day with a new name, but it comes soaked in history.
The Dunedin Gold Cup was first raced in 1874. The White Robe Lodge — the oldest sponsored thoroughbred race in New Zealand — runs for a 52nd time today. And the Dunedin Guineas, part of the Triple Crown, dates back to 1913.
Then there is the Otago Daily Times Southern Mile.
It is the new kid on the block — tomorrow’s final will be just the fourth — but the series has been a smash success, and the $200,000 final should be a ripper.
All up, Classics Day offers stakes of $995,000. Just a whisker off a million-dollar raceday, and that milestone will be reached next year.
Stand by for a special day for racing in the South.
