The National Pony Racing Series moves to the Gold Coast this weekend giving racing fans across the country another opportunity to witness some of Australia’s best young riders showcase their skills.
The Series, which is a partnership between Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC) and Pony Club Australia is designed to create awareness of career opportunities in the thoroughbred industry and educate young riders about thoroughbred welfare and life after racing.
TIC founder and CEO Lindy Maurice said it was fitting the fourth leg of the series, after earlier events at Eagle Farm, Moonee Valley and Ascot, were held at the start of The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival, because the sales company and its co-owner Katie Page-Harvey had been instrumental in making the series become a reality.
“When we were trying to start Pony Racing we were running into a few roadblocks and we approached Katie to see if they might be able to help,” Maurice said.
“We had our very first pony race at Doomben in late 2021 and Katie was instrumental in getting that one up. Once we ran the first one, the walls started coming down in other states and now we’ve been able to build it into this National Series.
“We are extremely grateful to Katie and Magic Millions for having the vision to see the benefits of this venture, along with the Gold Coast Turf Club which understands the importance of nurturing the next generation of racing industry participants via partnerships with TIC and the AITC Equine Academy."
The format for Saturday remains the same as the previous rounds, with heats for smaller and larger ponies. The training day for this event was held at Toowoomba but Saturday’s races will see riders from a big geographical area.
“We are trying to reach a broad circle, including some riders from just over the New South Wales border this week because the Gold Coast is a lot closer to some of those towns than Sydney,” Maurice said.
Saturday’s two races will be run during the $1.6M Gold Coast Turf Club Wave Raceday, which is the forerunner to next week’s monster The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday.
Gates open at 10 am.
Racing Queensland will take riders from Saturday’s two races on a tour of the Magic Millions Sale Complex on Monday, providing a behind-the-scenes experience, including a discussion with young Queensland trainer Jack Bruce as he walks through an inspection of a yearling.
After Saturday, the next races in the series will be held in Sydney on Australia Day, before moving to Adelaide for Adelaide Cup Day.
The Finals, which will comprise the first two across the line from each of the heats run, will be held at Randwick during this year’s Autumn Carnival in April.
