Banks P back in all its glory

Good time alert!

Grass track racing with crowds is officially back on Sunday.

Yes, that’s right, it’s grass track racing and we’re all officially invited!

It’s hard not to get too excited about the Bank Peninsula Trotting Club and the return of racing at Motukarara    

Big fields,competitive racing,big dividends,hot dogs, hot dog sauce running down your face, sun burnt faces, sun burnt backs, kids going crazy on the bouncy castle, parents going crazy at kids for jumping on other kids on the bouncy castle, …put all of that together and you’ve got everything that’s great about harness racing in New Zealand.  

On the racing front the meeting does have quality to it too. The Majestic Son D G Jones Memorial Trotting Cup at Group 3 level is the feature race of the card and is timed to go at 2.35pm.

Reading a list of the winners of the race is like reading the history of trotting in this country itself.

Sundon, the super sire, claimed victory in 1990 when off a 30m mark, Call Me Now edged Game Paul in 1994 (my two dollars a place on Game Paul proving profitable) Lyell Creek “the freak” greeted the judge in 1999 and again in 2000 while the free wheeling Springbank Richard won a brace of D G Jones Memorial titles in 2009 and 2010. More recent winners include the Mark Purdon trained I Can Doosit while Paul Nairn has enjoyed major success in the race with Call Me Now and Call You Later both claiming the title, Habibti Ivy winning the cup in 2017 and Habibi Inta capturing the silverware last year before going on to win the Dominion Handicap.      

Elsewhere across the card punters will get a mix of even looking maiden offerings along with some intermediate grade pacing and trotting events that are sure to give some headaches to form analysts and amateur wagerers alike.

Two memorial races named in memory of Motukarara stalwarts will also be contested with the Jean Anderson Memorial set to go at 12.30 and the Ross Stanbury Memorial to be run after the feature trot at 3.00pm.   

Stables that could be ones to follow would include the Greg and Nina Hope and R J Dunn Barns, both of which have enjoyed good success around “Mot” in past seasons while the Dean Taylor and Bruce Negus barns shouldn’t be dismissed from calculations either with their runners invariable putting in sound performances around the big grass track.  

The club has also stepped into the 21^st century recently with the installation of a cell phone tower (with a combined commitment from leading telcos making this a reality). This solves the underlying issue of connectivity that the racecourse wrestled with in years gone by and will come as a most welcome improvement by those that previously had to stand on their heads by the secretaries office to generate 2-bar reception.

In summary, a good day out at Banks P on Sunday looks a pretty good bet if you ask me!

Ben McMillan.