The success of Dubbo Turf Club continues on an upward spiral and some extraordinary figures were achieved on Sunday at the Gold Cup meeting.
Sam Fitzgerald the Dubbo CEO revealed the crowd was a record while bar sales and on course tote holds were records for a Dubbo Gold Cup day.
Furthermore, the Calcutta pool was a record $37,000 while the on course bookmakers holds of $135,000 was bigger than on the Derby-Golden Eagle day at Dubbo which always attracts a massive crowd.
On the track there was a bit of everything, with several very close photo finishes including a dead heat for first, a protest upheld and the 13-year-old, now retired warhorse, Billy Bent Ear (170 starts for 20 wins and 51 placings) leading the field out for the Picnic Championship Finals.
Apart from the horses, the star performers were Group 1 winning jockey Ashley Morgan and Scone trainer Cameron Crockett who combined for three wins and a dead heat for first.
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In the $75,000 XXXX Gold-Vincent Gordon Flying (1100 metres) the Cameron Crockett trained Durova ($2.50 to $2.20 favourite) made it four successive wins when hitting the lead in the straight and racing home nearly two lengths in advance of fast finishing stablemate Dances With Hooves (Mikayla Weir, $26) and the Toby Pracey, Mudgee trained Feirme Prince (Braith Nock, $71).
Winner of the previous two starts at Rosehill, the Annabel & Rob Archibald, Warwick Farm-trained 4-year-old gelding Cristal Clear earned eligibility for the Big Dance at Randwick when beating a good quality field over 1600 metres in the $150,000 Dubbo City & Gilgandra Toyota Dubbo Gold Cup.
Third turning for home, Cristal Clear ($2.60 equal favourite) responded to strong riding by leading apprentice Braith Nock to hold off Moree Cup winner Tavros (Ashley Morgan, $2.60 equal favourite) by a half length with the Country Cup winner at Scone, Who Ever Thought (Siena Grima, $7) finishing third.
Dubbo based Connie Greig, the premier trainer on the circuit, is a great supporter of Picnic clubs around NSW and she was a deserved winner with Line Of Law of the opening race at Dubbo, the $50,000 Showcase Picnic Sprint Championship over 1000 metres.
Ridden by the premier Picnic jockey Leandro Ribeiro, Line Of Law ($9) after hugging the inside rail from the outset took the lead from Cobar sprinter Mr Pointer in the straight and won by two lengths from the Peter Kirby, Forbes trained East Harlem (Ashley Boyd, $5.50) and Joanneski (Arthur Pollock,$5) from the Nikki Pollock stable at Scone.
There was a spectacular sight when the jockeys on the nine Connie Greig trained runners in the 12 horse field all wore the purple and gold stripes colours of the Greig stable.in the $50,000 Showcase Picnic Championship over 1400 metres.
Brazilian born Leandro Ribeiro is basically the stable jockey for Connie Greig on the circuit however she fully understood when he decided to ride Avoid Me for his partner Muswellbrook trainer Julia Presits.
Travelling midfield, Avoid Me ($2.50 favourite) swooped on the leading pack and won by two lengths from Blackhill Kitty (Zara Lewis, $11), Laisvas (Arthur Pollock, $4.20) and Allande (Sarah Curtis, $14) with the next seven placegetters behind Avoid Me all trained by Connie Greig.
Racing at Dubbo (TAB) on Friday, Mudgee on Saturday and Mungery Picnics on Sunday.
