The Gold Coast Turf Club has today unveiled a series of exciting new bonuses and initiatives for the first ever night racing meeting to be held at Aquis Park on Friday, December 20.
Marking the start of an exciting new era for the Gold Coast Turf Club, the first ever TAB Silks Under The Stars race evening kicks off the Gold Coast's largest ever Summer Carnival, which runs from December 20 through to January 24.
To celebrate the historic occasion, the club is offering free general admission tickets for the evening and has launched the all-new $125,000 TAB GC1000 for 3YOs, featuring a $50,000 Surfers Sizzler bonus for any horse that can break the 1000m track record.
Trainers and jockeys will also have the chance to share in $90,000 worth of bonuses on the night to be offered on six races on the program which all carry mid-week metroplitan level prize money.
A $10,000 trainer bonus and a $5,000 jockey bonus will apply to the winners of the six non-feature races on the program.
The initiatives, supported by Racing Queensland, add to what is an action packed program headlined by the $250,000 Magic Millions The Debut for unraced 2YOs.
Gold Coast Turf Club CEO Steve Lines said the club was excited to be hosting its first night racing meeting which will also feature a host of off-track entertainment including light shows.
“It is going to be an exciting occasion for the club and we are expecting a big crowd on track to witness history,” GCTC CEO Steve Lines said.
“The installation of lights, as part of the club’s $73 million redevelopment, has been the culmination of more than a decade’s worth of hard work and marks the start of a new era as we strive to become the second metropolitan club in Queensland.
“Night racing presents us with an exciting new opportunity to market the Gold Coast to visitors both interstate and internationally and we are working on some exciting plans around that.”
A series of successful tests have been conducted with the new state-of-the-art lighting in the lead-up to the first Night Racing meeting, including a twilight meeting on October 5 where the final two races were held under lights.
The Silks Under the Stars Race Evening will be the first of two Night Racing meetings held over a new-look GCTC Summer Carnival, with the other to be held on Friday, January 24 ahead of the Australia Day long weekend.
“We are really excited about the changes to the GCTC Summer Carnival which creates our biggest ever festival of racing from December right through to late January,” said Lines.
“The new carnival will culminate in the Night Racing meeting on January 24 and we believe this new program provides enhanced opportunities to promote tourism on the Gold Coast."
More than 2,000 people have already pre-registered for General Admission tickets for December 20, while limited corporate hospitality packages remain for the Christmas Festive Feast in the Event Centre at $200 per person.
Click here for more information on the Silks Under The Stars Raceday.