Poverty Bay Cup race at Hastings on Saturday

The Poverty Bay Cup will be raced for in Hastings tomorrow. Photo / Paul Rickard

The Poverty Bay Cup will be run at Hawke’s Bay racing in Hastings on Saturday.

It will be the third time Poverty Bay Turf Club’s glamour trophy will be raced for in Hawke’s Bay following the closure of the Makaraka-based course after controversial restructuring of the New Zealand racing industry.

About 25 members of the Poverty Bay Turf Club will be hosted by Hawke’s Bay Racing at the meeting, which features $500,000 to $600,000 in prize money.

The stake for the Poverty Bay Cup is $55,000.

Poverty Bay Turf Club president Rod Young said it would be good to get a good number of Gisborne racing fans at the meeting, but that was unlikely with the recent weather.

The race was held in April in recent years. but that had not been possible this year.

The Hawke’s Bay meeting would have a strong jumping presence with the Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase and the Hawke’s Bay Hurdles, Young said.

Poverty Bay Turf Club will host a race in Taupo in August as it has done previously.

The MetService forecast for Hastings on Saturday is for fine weather, then a few showers developing in the afternoon with light winds and a temperature of 15 degrees.