Veteran NT jockey Paul Denton, the current leader in the Alice Springs and Provincial jockeys’ premiership, is looking forward to the start of the 2024 Cup Carnival next Sunday.
However, he isn’t necessarily sold on the Alice Springs Turf Club’s revamped format.
The Carnival accommodates five meetings at Pioneer Park from March 17 before concluding on April 7 (Cup Day).
In recent years, Carnival has started in early April ending on the first Sunday in May – Cup Day last year was April 30.
Previously, Cup Day was the first Monday in May with Pioneer Sprint Day the preceding Saturday.
The $35,000 St Patrick’s Day Cup (1600m) has been added to the Carnival and is now the Day 1 feature.
The $50,000 NT Guineas (1600m) is the Day 2 feature on March 23, with the $40,000 Chief Ministers Cup (1600m) the Day 3 highlight on March 30.
The two major races are scheduled for April 6-7 – the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) on Saturday (Day 4) and the $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) on Sunday (Day 5).
Denton, who rides predominately for Kerry Petrick’s stable in Alice Springs, said it will be interesting to see how the new schedule is received.
“The new format probably suits some stables like us because we take horses to Darwin and it gives them more of a break between Carnivals,” he said.
“In saying that, we’re going to race in hotter weather.
“I don’t like the idea of racing Saturday and Sunday – horses can’t back up.
“If you win the Sprint you can’t celebrate because you’ve got to ride Cup Day.
“I was against the Friday and Sunday format at the end of Carnival, which was introduced a few years ago.
“I liked the old days when they raced Saturday and Monday.”
Meanwhile, Denton, who won a few premierships in Central Australia in the early 1990s, has 13 wins for the season.
Denton saluted on Dan Morgan’s three-year-old gelding Don’t Be Dramatic at Pioneer Park on Saturday.
He leap-frogged Sonja Logan (11.5), last season’s top rider, the previous week when he rode a double for Petrick and Lisa Whittle.
The 60-year-old, with 1273 career wins, and Petrick are in good form after a quiet start to the season.
Petrick has 12.5 wins and trails Paul Gardner (16) and Whittle (13).
Following the Darwin Cup Carnival in early August, Petrick took a team to Kununurra a month later before having three months off.
“Kerry had 16 horses spelling at the same time, we virtually had one runner over that period,” Denton said.
“The others returned to track work and things are definitely rolling along.
“A few of them are starting to fire up – Kerry had four winners on February 24.
“I’m probably a chance in the Alice premiership this year as we’ve got a team of 19 here, they’re all coming into Carnival and are starting to hit form.”
Denton has been riding in the NT since 1983 and has won a litany of feature races in Alice Springs and Darwin.
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