Bumper meet to kick off turf season

The Bunbury Turf Club season will kick off in style when it hosts a Saturday race meet on October 8 with metropolitan prize money.

Racing and Wagering WA has rewarded the South West track with the 2016-17 fixtures, which also include an extra two Sunday meets, as well as race days on New Year’s Day and Australia Day.

But the club’s season has gone from 22 meets in 2015-16, to 21 for the upcoming schedule.

Just three and a half weeks after the club’s season opens it will host a meet on Melbourne Cup Day, one of its biggest for the year.

Club chief executive officer Alex Doble said the Saturday meet would be a good opportunity to show off the track’s facilities and track.

“The meet is going to have metropolitan race prize money as we will have the only meeting on the day,” he said.

“It was a strategy from RWWA that gives us the best opportunity to attract people to the track.

“We have two bites of the cherry to kick the season off in style.”

Doble said a second Saturday meet was also a possibility.

“The track is well regarded so trainers around the State do not have a problem racing here,” he said.

The Bunbury Cup will take place on Thursday, March 23 with the Bunbury Stakes to be on the Sunday before.

To go with the bumper fixture, the Bunbury Turf Club is undergoing numerous changes, including renovations to the Winning Post Bar and the installation of a permanent 80sq m screen at the finish line.

“It is exciting to have these upgrades to the public facilities,” Doble said.