Perth Racecourse chief executive Hazel Peplinski is buzzing ahead of next week’s season opener.
Scotland’s most northerly track gets its calendar of events underway with the Perth Festival, which starts on Wednesday.
On offer will be £304,000 of prize money over three days, including Perth Racecourse’s richest-ever raceday on Friday.
The highlight on day one is Perth’s first listed race of the year, the £30,000 EBF Stallions Gold Castle National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle over three miles.
The following day sees another £30,000 feature, the River Tay handicap chase over two miles, while the Hunter Chase is also now run on this middle day and made an open contest in memory of the much-admired track specialist Creevytennant.
Then comes the hugely popular day three of the festival , with a record total prize pot of £112,000 on offer.
Peplinski said: “We’re all absolutely buzzing for a record-breaking festival, with more than £300,000 of prize money including our richest ever raceday, a real demonstration of our commitment to continue investing in racing as our core product.
“The team at Perth Racecourse has put in some shift leading up to our new season and all the hard work is paying off handsomely.
“Ticket sales are really encouraging. The weather is set to warm up over the Easter bank holiday weekend and many of the trainers we have contacted in advance of entries closing have our decent prize money firmly in their sights.
“We have watched a lot of quality jump racing elsewhere over the past few weeks and now it is Perth’s turn to put on a show. We can’t wait.”
