Celebrating a harness racing milestone

Next month’s Gold Cup set to be the 50th running of the prestigious pacing event

The Mount Gambier Harness Racing Club was well known in pacing circles for its Easter Carnival but the committee was desperate for a premier stand alone event and so in 1963 the Pacing Gold Cup was born.

On March 4 it will celebrate the 50th running of the prestigious event that always attracts strong fields from both sides of the border from regional trainers, as well as Melbourne and Adelaide hopefuls wanting to get their hands on the silverware.

When the race was first run and won it was over 12 and a half furlongs from a standing start – a handicap event but times have changed and in 2018 it evolved to a mobile start, the most common start to most pacing races now. For the most part the Gold Cup field is decided with the running of two heats at an earlier meeting and in the years of bumper fields for harness racing, three heats were needed to decide who would finally get a chance to race for glory.

Western Victoria has been a strong ally of the Mount Gambier Harness Racing community and the cup has often found its way back over the border. Safe to say though, nothing excites the always parochial crowd at the Gold Cup event than a possible local win – the hometown fans getting their wish last year when long time harness racing supporters the Finnis family took the spoils.

As with any major event sponsorship is always a key – club’s need the generous prize purse to attract as many trainers, horses and drivers as possible to support the event – and the Mount Gambier Harness racing Club has had some loyal support in that space.

Matthews Petroleum has been the naming rights sponsor for the past couple of years, taking over from Baxter Hire, another long time support of the sport in this region, and, of course, the long time support of the Scott Group of Companies that for a long time was the lifeblood of the club and its event.

Current vice president Neil Shepherd is just one of the many loyal supporters of the local harness racing scene and like so many involved at Greenwald Paceway in Mount Gambier, he has a strong family tradition of pacing.

“My grandfather was one of the founding committee men and my dad was always involved – basically there has been someone from our family at every Gold Cup,” Neil said.

And he knows he’s not the only one that has a family history steeped in harness racing – the Barkers, the Medhursts, the Finnis family, the Feasts, the Howards and the list goes on.

The club is approaching its 75th anniversary and the 70th anniversary was marked with a stunning exhibition at the Main Corner on the King’s Floor and that gave a stunning snapshot of just how the sport was built from the ground up.

The 50th Gold Cup celebrations will kick off in earnest at the March 3 Calcutta to be held at the Mount Gambier Community RSL. If you are looking for a good meal head to the venue early and grab yourself a bite to eat, with the Calcutta bidding starting at 7.30pm. “They are always pretty big shows,” Neil said. “We get good crowds to the Calcutta and we always get a good crowd to the Gold Cup.

“We are hoping to get past trainers and drivers to this year’s Calcutta.”

As for the 50th running of the cup – that sees owners vying for a $12,000 prize pool, with the $9000 Trotters Cup just adding to the prestige of the March 4 program, along with the always popular Pony Trot Gold Cup for the next generation of harness racing afficionados.

The Gold Cup heats are on February 18