A run of bad weather at Boxing Day race meetings at Wingatui comes with a bonus for racegoers at this year's running of the annual meeting a day after Christmas.
The Otago Racing Club has decided to drop the admission price from $15 to $10 for adults 18 and over, with entry for children under 18 remaining free.
Club chief executive Andre Klein said Boxing Day had been far from kind to the club in recent years, with last year's meeting run in persistent rain throughout the afternoon.
Even the meetings in recent months have been far from satisfactory for racegoers.
The twilight meeting last week was run in dry but cold conditions, wind kept punters rugged up at Cromwell late last month, and the mercury barely hit double figures at Wingatui on Melbourne Cup day.
Klein said the drop in price was one way of rewarding racing fans who may have contended with unpleasant conditions on previous Boxing Days.
''We want to give people the chance to come back and enjoy themselves,'' he said.
A strong focus of the meeting will be to provide plenty of entertainment options for children.
A magician is coming from Western Australia to entertain for three hours, Kidz Kartz ponies will hold some heats, while children can have a turn riding a 95cm high miniature pony.
''We really want to go overboard and bring young kids to the races - our whole objective is to get the 3- to 15-year-olds to the track and give them a good experience of horse racing.''
While there should be enough to occupy the children on the track, the racing is also looking strong, with the 1200m open handicap at listed level The Steven Anderton-trained pair of Hexie Hao and The Diamond One are two likely starters, with The Diamond One looking to defend her title won in the same race last year.
The race, traditionally called the Hazlett Stakes, is once again sponsored by Mosgiel business BP 2 Go Alco.
Klein expects strong fields with stakes ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 for the nine programmed races.
