Proponents of Arabian racing will meet in Deloraine on Saturday to discuss commencing the sport in Tasmania.
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An open forum will kick off at 10.30am at the Empire Hotel, with the National Arabian Racehorse Association's racing director Anthony Mountney and vice-president Brenden Milburn appearing as guest speakers.
As well as gauging public interest, the forum will also discuss plans to hold an Arabian race in the state as early as next year, with the Longford Cup already earmarked as having potential for hosting the sport’s Tasmanian debut.
According to Yvonne Downes, the Tasmanian representative on the Arabian Horse Society of Australia's board of directors, the concept has sparked significant interest among trainers and breeders of endurance Arabians.
Mrs Downes said Arabian racing was known for being family-friendly and attracting a different crowd to the races.
“It's pretty popular overseas and it's pretty popular in some of the other states in Australia, but it's still very restricted, so there might be maybe two or three Arabian races on the program for the day at some of the tracks,” Mrs Downes said.
“If you've got an Arabian they're more of a family horse - you get more friends more family and relatives come along to see “Uncle Bill's” horse race.”
About 5000 attended this year’s Longford Cup, which saw Sherry Barr ride pre-race outsider Miss It And A Bit to a win in the $16,000 main event.
Mrs Downes said while securing a race at the Longford Cup would be no easy assignment, the meet provided a reasonable time frame to get the concept up and running.
“We're looking at Longford on New Year’s Day because it's going to take a little while to get a few horses in and trained and set up ready to race.
“Longford being a smaller country track, it's a family day out anyway so it's a really good one to have chosen.”
Lunch and refreshments will be available at the meeting.
For more information or to register interest, contact Tracy on 0427677665 or email ennovyar@gmail.com