With no racing on the Stony Creek track for seven months, the surface is ready for action this Friday December 29 as the Family Fun Day gets the season underway, and there will be lots of off-track entertainment for children and adults, along with a selection of tasty food and a vibrant atmosphere.
Phillip Island duo ‘The Times’ will have people up and dancing to cover songs across a range of genres including rock hits, with Stony Creek Racing Club’s CEO Adam Olszanski delighted to secure their services for the first time.
“We tried to get them last year for Cup Day but they were booked out months in advance,” he said.
Little Ryders Pony Rides is a new addition that will appeal to the kids, Olszanski saying the Shetlands are well behaved.
The popular Funky Farm will be at the track again, with three shows and opportunities for children to meet the stars of the show, reptiles and other animals.
Kelly Sports is running supervised activities for youngsters, including sports and colouring in, and Airy Fairy face painting will add to vibrancy of the day.
In addition to all the entertainment, children can take something home.
“We’ll have Country Racing merchandise bags for the first 300 kids through the gates,” Olszanski said.
The track is expected to be rated soft after recent rain but a dry forecast leading up to the race meeting has the CEO confident it will be a good racing surface.
While the club would normally water the track regularly during December, the surprisingly cool and wet start to summer has meant the sprinklers haven’t yet been turned on.
Many of the horses racing on Friday are overseen by small Gippsland stables but the training partnership of Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock has entered a number of runners.
“We’re quite happy how the fields have turned out; they’re probably a little bit lower than they have been in previous years but that would be because of the rain-affected track and there’s also a fair bit of racing this time of the year,” Olszanski said, with that including a night meeting in Cranbourne on Friday.
Gates at Stony Creek racecourse open at 11.30am with the first race at 12.55pm.
