ON THE “HUNT” TO REGAIN GROUP STATUS
- Provincial Racing NSW
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
NEWCASTLE Jockey Club is confident its flagship race, the $1m The Hunter, will quickly regain Group status.
In decisions announced by the Asian Pattern Committee, The Hunter (1300m) will carry Listed status when it is run later this year, but Illawarra Turf Club’s $1m The Gong (1600m) retains its Group 3 status.
Both features were run for the first time in 2019 at new Saturday metropolitan stand-alone meetings introduced by RacingNSW.
Newcastle’s Group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m) for three-year-olds and the Listed The Beauford (2300m) for stayers have maintained their current rating, but Illawarra Turf Club’s The Warra (1000m) for sprinters, previously a Group 3 race, reverts to Listed status.
“It’s disappointing of course to lose Group status for The Hunter, especially considering the list of winners,” NJC chief executive Duane Dowell (pictured) said today.
“Coal Crusher won twice in 2023 and last year, and the 2024 winner Briasa went on to win the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes at Royal Randwick.
“However, the Asian Pattern Committee, in reassessing a lot of races in the new season, did not consider The Hunter to be a Group 2.
“Nonetheless, I’m confident we’re very close to getting back to at least a Group 3 rating.
“The race is such that it deserves no less.”
The Hunter will be run on November 14, and The Gong a week later.
The Gong has been won in the last two years by Gringotts, who has a high benchmark rating of 118 and won the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens last year as well as the $3m Big Dance (1600m) at Randwick the last two years.
. Provincial trainers missed out at today’s Newcastle meeting, but jockey Zac Lloyd didn’t.
Not long back from an overseas stint, he reeled off four winners – but was fortunate to escape with a $300 fine from his ride on first winner Tellerium.
The heavily supported $2.80 favorite snuck home narrowly in the 3YO & Up CG&E Maiden Plate (1250m) after looking as though he would score comfortably.
RacingNSW stewards hauled in the brilliant young rider for failing to ride his mount out fully to the end of the race, prejudicing Tellerium’s chances of winning.
In assessing the $300 penalty, stewards said they were mindful that Tellerium still finished first.
It would have been a vastly different story if he had been beaten.
Lloyd’s other winners were Tellerium’s stablemate Nuns Chorus ($4), Enviable ($1.12 favorite) and Movie Night ($2.90).
Whilst Newcastle’s Brudenell ($18 with TAB.com.au) and Kembla Grange’s Harry’s Bar ($11) both represent the provincials in tomorrow’s $200,000 Listed Ramornie Handicap (1200m) at Grafton, the latter’s trainer Paul Murray plans to back up Winning Point ($9.50) in the Class 6 Rural Plate (2200m).
Winning Point was a $151 bolter when she resumed from a break and finished seventh to favorite Mr Chaplin in last Sunday’s $80,000 South Grafton Cup (1600m).
She is much better suited at tomorrow’s distance, having been a 2300m Newcastle winner.
With a number of withdrawals, Brudenell’s stablemate Rustemo (Aaron Bullock) is now odds-on ($1.80) for tomorrow’s Grafton Guineas (1600m).
STORY JOHN CURTIS, JULY 14, 2026
It looks like the team has really dug deep and is determined to get back to where they belong. It won't happen overnight, but with the right attitude and a bit of patience, they're every chance of turning things around. It reminds me how the small details often make the biggest difference, whether it's in sport or even something like Professional Car Sound Deadening, where doing the job properly delivers the best results. Keen to see how the rest of the season unfolds and hoping they can build some real momentum from here.