The 2023 Silver City Cup takes place tomorrow – Saturday -, and while the weather promises to be hot, the racing action is expected to be even hotter. The Broken Hill Racecourse is the place to be, hosting an event that stands out on the local events calendar.
With the mercury anticipated to peak at 41 degrees Celsius, the schedule has been tweaked to bring the first race forward to 12:15 pm, a change from the usual 1:10 pm start, following consultations between the Silver City Cup committee and Racing NSW.
“The first race will be 12:15 instead of 1:10 due to the heat rules,” Silver City Racing Club president Dave Gallagher confirmed to the Barrier Truth.
The change in race time, nor the weather is not keeping the stables away however, with the field stacked with quality horses from both home and away.
“It’s a fantastic field and it’s credit to the trainers and owners of all the horses from around the district. They are coming from Swan Hill and Mildura to Cobar to Dubbo and places like that.
“It’s great to see that they’ve all come to decide to come to the Silver City Cup. It’s a great field and looking forward to it,” Mr Gallagher continued.
The race meet’s success is a testament to the tremendous community support in Broken Hill. Mr Gallagher expressed appreciation for the community’s enthusiasm and specifically commended Andrew Finlayson, Steve Radford, and their teams for their integral work leading up to the event.
He also thanked the Broken Hill City Council and the Foundation for their significant efforts, stating, “As well as Broken Hill City Council and the Foundation, they’ve done some fantastic work for us this year and without the support of them and all our other sponsors, the Silver City Cup wouldn’t be the success I know it’s going to be on the day.”
Special mention was reserved for track manager John Erskine, who Gallagher believes has prepared a top-notch track for the races, a sentiment echoed by Racing NSW with an early ‘Good’ rating for the track.
As for the tickets, they are selling fast but remain available at the entrance. For those worried about the heat, the Silver City Cup team has made provisions.
“We’ve got plenty of shade, we have sprayers in different areas, and we’ll open the grandstands too if people want to escape the heat. Plenty of cool drinks and good food too, come down and have a fantastic day,” the Silver City Cup president told the Truth.
PICTURES: NOEL FISHER
