The Goulburn District Race Club has received a boost with the news that its feature race, The Goulburn Cup, will now carry entry opportunity status for horses looking to qualify for a new $2 million race called "The Big Dance".
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The inaugural edition will be held at Royal Randwick on Tuesday, November 1.
The field for The Big Dance will be drawn from the winners and second placed horses of 25 Country Cup races from across NSW including the $200 000 Goulburn Cup.
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Goulburn District Race Club ceo Robyn Fife is thrilled about the club's inclusion.
"Its great recognition for the Goulburn Cup and provides added appeal to what is already a very enticing country cup opportunity for horses from around NSW," Ms Fife said.
She also said the club was extremely pleased to be part of The Big Dance, a new initiative of Racing NSW.
"It's an exciting initiative of Racing NSW and one that is sure to attract plenty of attention leading up to the first Tuesday in November.
"We expect this announcement to also help further strengthen the depth of the Goulburn Cup in coming years."
Ms Fife also highlighted the retrospective benefit of the announcement.
"This week's announcement also confirmed that the first two horses across the line in the 2021 edition of the Goulburn Cup will be given entry into the final pool of eligible horses.
"This means that local trainer Tash Burleigh and her horse Al Mah Haha are now part of the eligibility pool for the inaugural The Big Dance to be held later in the year."
A Big Dance Wild Card race will also be run at Royal Randwick on October 8, with the winner and second placed horse from the Wild Card becoming eligible for The Big Dance and exempt from the ballot.
Benchmark rating at the time of final acceptances will then be used to determine the final field from the pool of eligible horses, with the winners of eligible Country Cups receiving preference over any second place getters.
The Big Dance will be run at a distance of 1600m under quality handicap conditions.
Further details including a full list of the Big Dance qualifying races across NSW are available at:
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