| The first day
of the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival has been declared a great success despite a power
failure that caused all races to be put back on the program after the second race. Oakbank Racing Club’s Chairman John Glatz said the day was
"a great success" despite the drama when some of the town’s power supply
was suddenly cut.
Moments into Shutayr’s Restricted Hurdle win, the
second of ten races, the power to the major operating part of the track failed leaving off
course punters without vision for the entire race and sound for much of it as well.
Glatz said it was the first time such a drama had taken
place at the famous Hills Carnival.
"It certainly hasn’t happened here before,"
Glatz said. "It’s just one of those things I guess. We couldn’t do much
about it, it was an ETSA problem and quite a bit of the track was without power for about
an hour."
The problem which affected the main broadcasting and
administration of the course wasn’t the same case for those socialising in the middle
of the track.
"The inside of the track wasn’t affected as that
power comes from a different centre," Glatz added.
Punters who took part in the punter’s club had a great
day when the experts (John McBain and Craig Brennan) gave them a $5 profit for their $20
outlay. The punter’s club will be run again on Monday.
Today close to 41,000 people attended the first day of the
carnival with an estimated 65,000 to 70,000 expected to flock to the course for the Great
Eastern Steeple on Monday.
"It (Monday) look’s like being a great day. The
temperature should be about 29 degrees and the fields are good," Glatz said.
Today’s feature race on the card the Von Doussa
Steeplechase was taken by the Lee Freedman trained jumper Nautilism. That gelding is
expected to start favourite and will be the one the others have to beat in Monday’s
Great Eastern over a slightly longer trip.
"Nautilism was very, very impressive. He’s is
certainly my tip for Great Eastern on Monday," Glatz said.
"Today’s Von Doussa was a very competitive race
with the likes of Jarl and Maybe Rough. He is a dashing jumper."
Another highlight of the day was the impressive record
breaking win of the Alan Bailey trained mare Libidinious in the listed Clipsal Stakes.
"Libidinious set a new track record. She actually
broke the record set by (stablemate) Point Danger in the same race last year," Glatz
reported. |
