SENTrack, Yabby Dam Farms to support Vic’s great races

SENTrack, Yabby Dam Farms and TAB have thrown their support behind Victoria’s greatest night of harness racing.

The pinnacle of the TAB Summer of Glory will feature the SENTrack A G Hunter Cup and Yabby Dam Farms Great Southern Star after the racing broadcaster and breeding and racing operation snapped up naming rights for the state’s pinnacle pacing and trotting events.

Harness Racing Victoria Head of Partnerships Andrew Pirchan said it was terrific to have such great brands on board.

“The spotlight is never brighter on Victorian harness racing than this night and so it’s terrific to have TAB, SENTrack and Yabby Dam Farms front and centre,” Pirchan said.

“The TAB has been an ever-present and valued supporter of harness racing through the Summer of Glory, which has been the pinnacle of our racing calendar.

“February 3 is the highlight of the summer and it’s fantastic to have SENTrack aligned with our richest race, the A G Hunter Cup, and a great trotting brand – Yabby Dam Farms – with our richest race for squaregaiters.”

To be broadcast on Racing.com’s free-to-air channels 68, 78 and 7plus, the February 3 race meeting will be the first time the Hunter Cup has been held the same night as the Great Southern Star when the latter is in a heats-into-final format.

SEN Director of Sport Julian Bayard said the station was thrilled to again be partnering with one of the greatest races on the harness racing calendar.

“We had a fantastic partnership with Harness Racing Victoria through the 2022 SENTrack Inter Dominion championships and to reignite that for the A G Hunter Cup is extremely exciting,” said. 

“With runners from New Zealand, Queensland and New South Wales planning to descend on Melton to take on Victoria’s best pacers, it’s shaping as a fantastic edition of the storied race and SENTrack is looking forward to being in the middle of the action.” 

Yabby Dam Farms produced the winner of the 2019 Great Southern Star when Dance Craze scored and its principal, Pat Driscoll, said the owner-breeder was thrilled to lend its name to the three-race series.

“This is a great opportunity to align our brand with a one-night race series that’s growing in stature every year,” Driscoll said.

“The Great Southern Star is becoming an iconic series and it going on free-to-air for the first time is something I’m extremely excited about. I commend HRV for putting the Great Southern Star on the same night as the Hunter Cup, particularly in the heats-into-final format, which is not something people would see that often.”

by Michael Howard, for Harness Racing Victoria