Countdown to the Cup
BY ALEX TIGANI
Tickets are now on sale for The Royal Muswellbrook Cup.
A half-day public holiday has been confirmed by the Muswellbrook Shire Council for the famous race day which will be held on Friday, April 1.
The Royal Muswellbrook Gold Cup over 1500m is worth $150,000 with support races including the $75,000 Horsepower Skellatar Sprint (1000m), the $50,000 BHP Mt Arthur Coal Wayne Harris Hcp (1280m), the $50,000 TAB Country Magic and minimum prizemoney of $30,000 for all other races.
Veteran trainer Pat Farrell, 80, is one of many local trainers to have celebrated a coveted win.
His first Muswellbrook Cup was way back in 1968 with 50-1 outsider Fei Mar.
Last year the Kris Lees trained Its Lily celebrated a memorable victory after surviving a protest from the runner up, the Bjorn Baker trained Starspangled Rodeo.
A year prior, Nathan Doyle’s Petrology took home the Cup before empty stands as the region entered its first covid lockdown three days earlier.