VOBIS Gold boost for Echuca

Next year’s Echuca Cup meeting has been bolstered by the addition of the $70,000 VOBIS Murray River Gold (1400m), a leg of the lucrative VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series.

The feature race for eligible three-year-old and four-year-old horses, run for the first time in March this year as the R.J. Hoysted Memorial VOBIS Gold Eldorado, has been moved from Wangaratta to Echuca as part of last week’s announcement of a $273,000 upgrade to the Wangaratta racetrack in 2015. 

The upgrade, which will see the entire Wangaratta racing surface replaced, is behind the transfer of five meetings between January and April next year, including the popular Cup meeting on 1 March.

More information on the Wangaratta upgrade is available here.

As a result, the VOBIS Murray River Gold (1400m) will become one of the feature races on Echuca’s 8 March Cup Day program, with the name change to reflect the host region. 

Open only to VOBIS Gold-nominated horses, the $1.9 million VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series consists of 13 lucrative feature races for two, three and four-year-old horses at metropolitan and regional Victorian racetracks during the 2014/15 season.

Despite its relative infancy, the VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series has proven a popular launching pad for the careers of star gallopers, including Darren Weir’s dual Group 1 winner Trust In A Gust who, in addition to three victories during the 2013/14 series, was runner-up to talented Mick Price-trained gelding Worth A Ransom in this year’s VOBIS Gold Eldorado at Wangaratta. 

Meanwhile, at the most recent Country Racing Victoria Club Managers Workshop, Chief Executive Officers from Bendigo Jockey Cub (BJC), Pakenham Racing Club (PRC), Ballarat Turf Club (BTC) and the Warrnambool Racing Club (WRC) were presented with certificates to recognise their continued support of the VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series.

VOBIS Gold Premier Races are highly sought after by Victorian racing clubs and provide significant added interest to race meetings.