Apache Chase, The Harrovian in the mix for The Archer

[Wandering Eyes]

Although The Archer may still be three months away from its first instalment, the Rocky Amateurs Club is hoping to see the race’s prizemoney rise to $1 million in less than five years.

The $440,000 race is based on the slot model used in The Everest and will be run at Rockhampton’s Callaghan Park on May 7, coinciding with the Rocky Amateurs Cup, the Country Cup and a new $75,000 consolation race, making it the richest race day north of South-East Queensland.

The Archer is already shaping to be one of the state’s most anticipated races, with star runners such as Apache Chase, The Harrovian and Streets Of Avalon under consideration for the 1300m event.

Rocky Amateur committee member Matt Adams told HorseBetting that the slot holders are not giving too much away about which horses will be running for them.

“No one gave anything away, but all we know is that quite a lot of the slot holders have contacted Desleigh (Forster) about Apache Chase, so it’s looking like one of them will get it,” he said.

“Then we’ve got The Harrovian too, but no one has gave us any definites, and the way it’s going to be, which makes it a little more exciting this race, slot holders, owners and trainers are going to keep their cards really close to their chest.”

Already gaining plenty of interest in Queensland and across the country, Adams said that the buzz in Rockhampton and surrounding areas is really starting to build.

Having recently announced a $75,000 consolation race over 1200m to be run on the same day as The Archer, the Amateurs Club believes that it will give local trainers a chance to run their horses for “Brisbane prizemoney”, although it won’t just be restricted to Central Queensland-based stables.

“It’s been received really well, especially with having the $75,000 consolation race on the day,” he said.

“That’s good for local horses; that’s Saturday Brisbane prizemoney up here in Rockhampton.”

The race is placed very conveniently in the lead-up to the Brisbane Winter Carnival; the Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup is set to be run a fortnight later, with a further two weeks into the state’s premier race, the Stradbroke Handicap.

The Rocky Amateurs host one meeting each year at Callaghan Park, so they have carefully placed their 2022 event in order to lure the country’s best gallopers.

“With dates, we always tried to set it up to lure the best horses in Australia even – not just Brisbane – to try and make it a better day,” Adams said.

With each slot worth $35,000 per year over three years, the club believes that one of the many great aspects of The Archer is that the $440,000 prize pool is almost completely self-funded by slot holders.

“We came up with the figure of $35,000 per year for a slot, and then for three years,” Adams said.

“We did have a lot of discussion about that price of $35,000, but in hindsight, we might have been able to put more on it, but back then when we were first talking about it, we didn’t even know if this would be a success or if Racing Queensland would let us have it.

“It puts Rocky on the map, it’s putting the Rocky Amateurs Race Club on the map even more and also supporting the Rockhampton Jockey Club.

“We are really wanting it in four or five years’ time to be a $1 million race, and we think that’s achievable.”

Tickets are not yet on sale for the inaugural running of The Archer, but they will soon be available on RockyAmateurs.org.au.

The Amateurs Club hopes to host a Calcutta evening as well as an official Barrier Draw event in the build up to the May 7 race, which will have numerous hospitality and dining packages available.

In what is an exciting way to build interest in the meeting, the Rocky Amateurs are running a competition on their Facebook page for people to suggest a name for the consolation race, with two VIP race day experiences to be won.

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