HAMILTON Harness Racing Club celebrates its biggest day on the calendar tomorrow, with the staging of its cups meeting with the Hamilton Pacing Cup, Hamilton Trotters Cup and the Border Cup Final all being awarded across the afternoon.

There will be a total of eight races for the afternoon, as the meeting forms part of the Turf to Trots promotion that is being staged by the club alongside the Hamilton Racing Club.

Hamilton Harness Racing Club president, Glenn Parkin, is excited for the upcoming program and is looking forward to the club showcasing the facility, along with the running of three cups races.

“The pacing cup and the trotters cup have been held since the inception of the club with a long history attached to both,” he said.

“We will be looking towards our local drivers (Jackie Barker and Rodney Barker), pitting their skills against those from around the district, who come from Warrnambool, Terang, Mount Gambier just to name a few.

“We have a few local trainers - seven or eight - who have 30-odd horses working at the track each week, with plenty of competition in the Western District.

“The track is in magnificent condition and is a credit to our maintenance staff who work hard every day to provide the best possible surface for all competitors.

“It’s a very fast track and the club is very proud of it as it attracts the top trainers and horses, as the trainers know their runners can perform at their best in safety.”

With plenty of action on the track, there are also activities planned away from the racing, which has been a focus for the club in recent years.

“Harness racing across the state must look to making events family friendly to attract more and more people to our meetings,” Parkin said.

“We have free entry for all on the day with plenty of family friendly activities like jumping castles, face painting etc, for the kids which will allow Mum and Dad to relax and enjoy the racing.

“Presentations on the day will be made by Georgia Clarke, who is a local that plays AFLW for Essendon, so the families will be able to meet her as well.

“There will be foot races featuring players from the Hamilton Kangaroos Football Netball Club with prizes for the winners.

“We normally don’t have bookmakers’ field at our meetings but there will be a Warrnambool based bookie in attendance tomorrow which we are very happy about.

Runners in the Border Cup Final have all earned their places in the field by performing in the heats which were held at Mount Gambier on Tuesday.

The horses in both the pacing and trotters cups have achieved the required performance level to earn a place in the field for each race, and with the quality of the track and the mild weather conditions a fast pace will be set in all three cup races.

Full race fields will appear on Page 30.