The Oamaru Jockey Club’s cup meeting on Sunday will look a little different this year.
Rather than each race being sponsored by a business, this year the majority are sponsored by former athletes.
Two feature races will remain the same, however — the $40,000 the Crombie & Price Oamaru Cup and the $35,000 Dave Allan Memorial.
The late Bevan Crombie was a past president of the club and a life member.
Former North Otago rugby players John Borrie and Peter Cook, former Kiwis rugby league players Brent Stuart and Logan Edwards, former jockeys Chris Johnson and Noel Harris as well as former shearers Colin Rapsey and Barry Taylor have all sponsored a race in pairs.
Borrie played 25 games for the Old Golds after debuting in 1975 and also earned selection for the New Zealand Colts team in 1976.
Cook was a New Zealand secondary schools representative in 1978 and went on to play for and coach North Otago.
Stuart played 14 tests for the Kiwis between 1992 and 1995 and would go on to coach Canterbury 2007 to 2011.
Edwards played five tests for New Zealand and spent time playing overseas.
Cantabrian Johnson holds the record for the most winning rides in New Zealand with 2515 and he won the New Zealand jockeys premiership twice.
Harris had 2167 wins and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2015 for services to the thoroughbred racing industry.
Rapsey is famous for shearing 1.3 million sheep since he started at age 14.
Taylor won the New Zealand Fine Wool Championship in 1992, 1998 and 2003, representing New Zealand in those same years.
He also set the merino nine-hour two-stand record alongside Grant Smith in which the pair shore 809 sheep — Taylor sheared 405 which was an individual world record at the time.
Even though the track has a heavy rating, Oamaru Jockey Club committee member Jack Mckenzie said it was in good shape after "a fair bit of water" last week.
‘‘We’re very happy with the track."
Last year’s Oamaru Cup winner Royal Valour — trained by former All Black Bevan Wilson and his wife Robyn at Ashburton — will be in action again in this year’s edition (race 9).
Also trying to repeat their feature wins of the meeting 12 months ago will be Magnastar in the Dave Allan Memorial (race 7), and Candle, in the $40,000 River Plate Trophy, the open sprint.
The day has attracted big fields, which will also please the club.
The first race is at 11.08am.
