Announcement – Revised Evans & Son Jewellers Ladies Bracelet & Sires On Ice Bob Payne Sprint Series at Wentworth Park

Courtesy of The Greyhound Recorder:

WATERED down versions of the Ladies Bracelet and Bob Payne Sprint will be staged at Wentworth Park next Friday night following the late abandonment of Saturday night’s meeting.

Heats of the group 3 events were to be staged on the card leading into next Friday night’s $25,000-to-the-winner finals.

But with no prospect of the showpiece races being rescheduled due to a congested group race calendar, the decision has been made to stage two $15,000-to-the-winner events next Friday night instead.

“We will stage a Bob Payne Sprint Appreciation for the boys and a Ladies Bracelet Appreciation for the girls next Friday night,” GBOTA boss Allan Hilzinger said.

“The two races will carry prize money of $15,000-to-the-winner along with elevated place money as well.

“On top of this, if nominations warrant, a further $10,000 non-grade event will be staged as well.

“With the (group 1) Harrison-Dawson and Sapphire Crown and Brother Fox at Dubbo running right off the back of these races the option wasn’t there to push them back.

“We tossed some ideas around but ultimately decided that this was the best course of action for participants.”

While winning connections of next Friday’s events will receive the rug and trophy, they won’t be recorded as winners in the record books.

“For 2023 the races will go down as not held,” Hilzinger added.

“We already have the rugs and trophies so the winners will still receive them. We’ll endeavour to make it as much of an event as we can in trying circumstances.”

Hilzinger added that there will be a deep dive into the circumstances that led to Saturday night’s meeting abandonment after Sydney endured relentless rain for the majority of the day.

“We’ll look into whether there’s any learnings from it,” he added.

“There’s a bit flying around but we’ll get all the facts together and see where there is an opportunity to improve any of our practices.

“It’s important that participants were compensated for last night – I think it averaged out at around $1500 a runner – and we’ll now look forward to a big night of racing on Friday.”

Nominations with close with GRNSW via OzChase on Tuesday 2nd May 2023 at 9am.

For the full revised calendar of scheduled events, please click here: thedogs – Calendar – Wentworth Park 05 May 2023