THE Blue Mountains’ cooking cowboy will be a special guest when Bathurst hosts the opening heat of The Country Championships at Tyers Park on Sunday, March 1.
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It will be Bathurst’s richest ever race day when Bathurst Thoroughbred Racing Club stages the first of seven $100,000 qualifying races, with Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Wagga, Grafton, Goulburn and Dubbo following suit.
First and second in each heat will then head to Royal Randwick on Saturday, April 4 to compete for a $300,000 purse in The Country Championships Final (1400m).
Personalities from the Seven Network’s My Kitchen Rules – former Texas cowboy Robert and daughter Lynzey – will be special guests at Bathurst, along with Championships ambassador Francesca Cumani.
“Bringing a prestigious race carrying $100,000 in prizemoney will be a fantastic boost to all seven of these country tracks and their communities,” Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said.
The Bathurst round of The Championships will recognise many locals and past greats on the day such as Tulloch, Rising Prince, The Barb and Gold Circle, while the local program includes the $25,000 Sky Legends of Racing Bathurst Cup (1800m) and the $18,000 The Barb run over a gruelling 3000-metre journey.
The 2015 The Championships will be held on Saturday, April 4 and 11 at Royal Randwick, where the 12 grand finals of Australian Thoroughbred racing will be centre stage incorporating eight Group One events as well as the initial Provincial and Country Championships.
