Big jumps race day in Hastings

Visiting 10-year-old It's a Wonder, a favourite for Saturday's Hawke's Bay Steeplechase in Hastings, on the way to winning the Waikato Steeplechase last year. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay is set to see one of its biggest days of steeplechases and hurdles in the annual Hawke's Bay Hunt races in Hastings on Saturday.

The winter feature and the second-to-last of Hawke's Bay Racing's meeting in the 2020-2021 season which ends on July 31, will have five jumps races – including the historic Hawke's Bay Steeplechase and the Hawke's Bay Hurdles.

There will also be a maiden steeplechase and two maiden hurdles races.

Hawke's Bay Racing had originally scheduled two of each, but added a second maiden hurdles to cater for an increased number of entries.

Racing aficionados could not initially recall how long it may have been since there had been five non-flat races on the card.

It's half the day's programme, catering to 46 of the 109 named in the fields on Wednesday.

The races start with a maiden hurdle at 10.54am, the 3100-metres Hawke's Bay Hurdles will start at 11.54am, and the Hawke's Bay Steeplechase, first held in 1979 and now run over 4800 metres, will start at 2.09pm. The two main races each have stakes of $50,000.

The Hunts meeting was unable to be held last year because of Covid-19 lockdown, but the two feature races were held later in the year during Hawke's Bay Racing's also delayed Spring Carnival.

The Steeplechase was won for a second time by locally-trained Perry Mason, which to be put down several weeks later, and the Hurdles was won by visitor The Midnight Shift, which is now racing in Australia.