Cobar wants to put on simply the best picnic meeting of the season on Saturday when hosting their Tina Turner-inspired race day.
A five-race picnic program, the last of the 2022/23 NSW Picnic Racing Association season, will be complemented by a casual day off the track, including a tribute to the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
“We should get an excellent crowd,” Cobar Minders Race Club President Jarrod Marsden said.
“We’ve added a bit of spice to the day with a Tina Turner dress-up theme for fashions on the field, and being our picnic meeting, it’s more of a casual, family day.
“There will be food, bookmakers, and all that, and we think adding the Tina Turner dress-up for fashions will only spice things up a little bit.”
On the track, the DJW and Wells Ventilation Cobar Picnic Cup (1700m) headlines the program, and Marsden said the track was in pristine condition.
“I’m actually going over it right now; it’s absolutely perfect,” Marsden told NSW Country and Picnic Racing on Wednesday.
“We put two truckloads of water this morning to settle it and just give it that little freshen-up before Saturday.”
Dubbo trainer Connie Greig has dominated Cobar Cup and Cobar Picnic Cup in recent years, and she won this race in 2022 with Merdeka.
With three runners in Saturday’s feature race, Marsden said it was a good chance that Greig would win the race with Gossip (Leandro Ribeiro), Individualist (John Wilson), or Merdeka (Grady Spokes) going around. Still, he wasn’t willing to write off another chance from the Allan Prisk yard.
“Connie just about owns it; the engravers have already started to write her name on it,” Marsden laughed.
“Don’t worry, though; Prisky’s will give them a run for their money. That Borlotti; it’s run at Louth was better than it looked on paper.
“The short straight there didn’t suit it, and it’s a come-from-behind type of horse that will be better suited to Cobar and the longer straight.”
One thing about Cobar is that every horse does get a chance.
“Cobar is a really even track,” Marsden said.
“Leading and come-from-behind horses get their chance, and other than a trainer like Prisky, most of them are travelling about the same distance to get here, so it’s good.”
Adding to what should be a good day, trainers will also be chasing NSW Picnic Champion Series points, with this the final opportunity for horses to qualify for the $50,000 final to be run at Coonamble on October 8.
“It really adds to the meeting,” Marsden said.
“It’s the absolute chance to get points to qualify horses for the final, and there are a few that need points.”
It’s set to be a big day at Cobar, and for more information, click here.
For fields, click here.
