Racing: Tamworth Jockey Club to hold Christmas Eve meet

Today, with the first race scheduled to start at 1.06pm, the TJC will host a TAB meeting which general manager Michael Buckley said will be a family-friendly event.

"We're excited about the opportunity to conduct a Christmas Eve meeting," Buckley said.

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"We have changed our direction now towards family and having them get out trackside for a couple of hours on Christmas Eve."

Initially slated for Friday, the meet was pushed back by a day to accommodate the rescheduled Coonabarabran Cup, which was washed out in October.

This is the first time the TJC has held an event so close to Christmas, and it has scheduled a number of attractions besides the racing, including lucky door prizes, Christmas raffles, face painting, and a special appearance from Santa.

There will also be no entry fee at the gate, which has Buckley expecting a strong turnout today.

"We're preparing ourselves for a turnout well above our standard weekday race," he said.

"We've actually got quite a few bookings upstairs in the function centre already. It's good to see the people of Tamworth receiving the race day well, we're excited by what presents there."

The numbers are likely to be as strong on the track as they are off it. The club received 165 nominations across the seven scheduled races, the majority of which were from trainers in the local region, but there were a smattering from high-profile trainers south of Tamworth such as Kris Lees,

Given the enthusiasm with which the fans have so far greeted the meet, Buckley said it is likely the TJC will continue to host events on the Friday before Christmas in years to come.

"We think the Friday fixture prior to Christmas is the right one for us," he said.

"You see a lot of clubs with Friday race meetings this time of year hold really successful meetings."

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