Salisbury Racecourse

?

racing_news/

Salisbury Season Commences With Televised Race
20/04/06

Salisbury opens its gates for the 2006 season with the ever-popular Family Fun Day on Sunday, May 7, with the racecourse hoping that events will get off to as scintillating a start as did the 2005 campaign, when Goodricke and Resplendent Glory dead-heated in a memorable renewal of the opening six-furlong totesport.com Handicap.

The David Loder-trained Goodricke used that contest as a spring-board to the highest level and captured the Group One William Hill Sprint Cup at Haydock later in the season, while Terry Mills sent Resplendent Glory to Sandown for a Group Three victory in July.

It remains to be seen whether racegoers will witness a future Group One winner this time around, but they are assured another great day of entertainment at Salisbury's traditional family-centred curtain-raiser.

Gates open at 11.00am and children can enjoy an array of activities including face painting, bouncy castle, penalty shoot-out and creche, while clowns will be on hand to amuse the crowd.

There will also be a lurcher display on the course at 1.00pm, prior to the main action commencing at 2.25pm with the £21,500 totesport.com Handicap which will be shown live on Channel 4.

The six races on the card will be broadcast on a giant screen, and spectators can make their selections and follow the action with the aid of a full-colour racecard.

Salisbury is always looking to improve facilities and this year will see a brand new rubberized surface for the parade ring walkway which will improve the experience for horses, lads and jockeys.

With 14 racedays ahead this term, there is plenty to look forward to, including the "Salisbury Splendour" Summer Festival on Wednesday, August 16, and Thursday, August 17, which features the highlight of the season, the £70,000 Group Three Sovereign Stakes, boasting a prize-money increase of £10,000.

Layman, owned by Godolphin, won the race last season from Jack Sullivan, who went on to collect back-to-back wins in a Group Three at Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, in February. The festival also saw La Persiana score a hugely popular first Listed race success in the £40,000 EBF Upavon Fillies' Stakes, following several near misses in Group class.

The great Brigadier Gerard tasted victory at Salisbury as a juvenile in 1970 before going on to achieve legendary status, and the course has a fine tradition of launching horses on the road to big-race glory.

The 2005 season brought many high-class horses to Wiltshire, notably the top-rated British two-year-old Sir Percy who won his second start at the track before ending his unbeaten campaign in the Group One Darley Dewhurst Stakes.

With Ascot closed for redevelopment, Salisbury successfully staged the Group Three Cornwallis Stakes and Group Three Autumn Stakes in October, won by Hunter Street and Blitzkrieg respectively.

Clerk of the Course Jeremy Martin said: "We're looking forward to another good year which hopefully will see some nice two-year-olds as we do each season.

"We were privileged to see Sir Percy who was the best two-year-old we had here last season, while Nidhaal, who won the Listed Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes, was probably the best juvenile filly to race here.

"The joint-staging of the Cornwallis Stakes and Autumn Stakes for Ascot was a great highlight as was having our first Aidan O'Brien runners, Arabian Prince and Dylan Thomas.”

Following the opening totepool.com HANDICAP, the second race on Sunday, May 7, is the £8,500 totecourse to course MAIDEN STAKES (3pm) over six furlongs. Race three, the £11,000 totequadpot CONDITIONAL FILLIES' STAKES (3.35pm), is a five-furlong contest for juvenile fillies. Another competitive handicap is staged in the form of the 10-furlong totesport 0800 221 221 HANDICAP (4.10pm) which carries prize money of £11,000.

The fifth race, the £8,500 toteexacta MAIDEN STAKES over 12 furlongs was won in 2004 by Day Flight who notched up a hat-trick of Group Three wins last season. The £18,000 totepool A BETTER WAY TO BET HANDICAP (5.20pm) is the last race on the card and was won in 2005 by Balkan Knight who captured the historic Old Borough Cup at Haydock later that term.

Admission prices on Sunday, May 7 are Members' Enclosure £18, Tattersalls Enclosure £11 and Course Enclosure £6. Accompanied children under 16 are admitted free and all car parking is free.