Now that the dust has settled, the Alice Springs Turf Club’s revamped five-day Cup Carnival has received positive feedback.
For the first time, the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) and $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) were programmed on Saturday and Sunday.
In the past, Saturday hosted Sprint Day and Monday staged Cup Day, and in recent years, both races were on Sunday.
Day 4 was on Friday for a few years, while there was never a Day 1 feature until the $35,000 St Patrick’s Day Cup (1600m) was introduced.
The $50,000 NT Guineas (1600m) is the Day 2 feature, while the $40,000 Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m) is the Day 3 feature.
“The Saturday and Sunday back up, Carnival starting a month earlier, Easter the week before, and school holidays starting — it was all going to be new,” ASTC general manager Tony McGovern said.
“We ended up with solid crowds on Saturday and Sunday.
“There was a good vibe, and most patrons were happy with all the provisions.”
Cup Day was previously the first Monday and then the first Sunday in May, and hot weather was the concern in bringing the Carnival forward.
It also meant that horses would unlikely race twice on the final weekend, but in turn, every horse in town competed on Saturday or Sunday.
“It’s early days, but I don’t think you try something new one year and then just say, let’s start again,” McGovern said.
“I think you’ve got to give it a couple of years, but we did have a couple of smallish fields at the end.
“If we can come up with new innovations and make a few tweaks to the format, I’d be happy if the crowds next year improved by 20 percent.
“The debrief will happen over the next three to four weeks; we’ll also have a new committee at the end of April.”
It was a learning curve for McGovern, who started his new role in January, and apart from the rain that washed out the NT Guineas – which was Ladies Day – before being switched to a Wednesday (March 27), he couldn’t fault the Carnival and praised the efforts of track, grounds, and office staff.
NT trainer Kerry Petrick won her third Alice Springs Cup with Venting (Stan Tsaikos), while Strathalbyn trainer Kym Healy won his first Pioneer Sprint with Mathematics (Paul Denton).
Alice Springs apprentice Dakota Gillett, back home after a stint in SA, and Darwin jockey Aaron Sweeney had three wins on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Healy (9) and Top End apprentice Emma Lines (6) were the leading trainer and jockey during Carnival.
One other Cup Day highlight was the emotional win by Terry Gillett’s five-year-old mare Dakota Lee, ridden by daughter Dakota, who was having her first Pioneer Park start since April 2022.
After seven Alice Springs wins from as many starts, Dakota Lee developed claustrophobia and spent time in Victoria to rectify the problem.
The mare returned to racing in February, finishing ninth over 1000m at Moonee Valley for trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy.
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