General News
5 October, 2022
Magnificent Murtoa makes merry
Murtoa races sees a perfect return for their highly anticipated event,.
The middle of Murtoa’s Big Weekend, Saturday, October 2, saw a day of perfect weather host the much-anticipated Murtoa races.
Racing operations manager Penny Penfold said the event was a fantastic experience for all involved.
"It was excellent; we had a good crowd that we were really happy with," she said.
"The day was beautiful and the weather couldn’t have been better."
"There was a huge crowd with just over 1000 people, which we estimated was an increase of 20 per cent from previous years."
The day consisted of eight races with the E-Cycle Solutions Murtoa Cup taking place as the sixth race at 4.01pm.
It was a close race between crowd-favourite Lunatic Fringe and Huntly Castle, with Huntly Castle ultimately tasking out first in the 2050 metre competition.
Read more: Magnificent Murtoa makes merry
Huntly Castle was trained by brothers Ben and J.D Hayes of Hayes Stable and was ridden by jockey Josh Richards.
The prize was valued at $50,000.
The coveted second heat of the 1600m Melbourne Cup Carnival Series was also an eagerly-awaited eighth race of the day.
The race was restricted to trainers who trained fewer than 15 metro winners last season and country-based trainers.
The winner was Play on Words, trained by Rod Symmons and ridden by Sheridan Clarke.
Mi Rock Aly, trained by Matthew Williams and ridden by Thomas Stockdale, placed second.
The heat held a prize of $100,000 for the winner.
"We were really pleased to run such a successful race day, we were thrilled to be able to do so," Ms Penfold said.