Free entry for trotting cup

A shot of the action from last year.

The Quintin Oakes Builders Stratford Trotting Cup takes place this year on Sunday, March 5.

With free entry, the day is a a great family fun day out and people are encouraged to bring along a picnic, family and friends and enjoy a fun day at the races.

When it comes to the racing itself, there are plenty of local trainers for the crowd to support, and many of them have enjoyed recent successes elsewhere in the country.

Megatron, trained by Jason Cossey, who also co-owns the horse with Spence Cossey, has had two wins recently. The first was in Hawera in January, which was followed up with a win at the Whanganui Trots, where he beat an ex Stratford horse, Cut the Cards, trained by Fred Mitchell.

Fred also had some other successes at Whanganui, with Hold All Bets and Jack Bates coming in second and fourth respectively.

While two other locally trained horses, Burning Reign and Secret of the Sea Smile, both trained by Davey Jones, lost their chances at the start at Whanganui, Dashing Dane trained by Farley Cossey took fourth place at Palmerston North recently.

Another locally owned and trained horse, Our Wicklow, trained by Phil Fleming, is also set to be racing in Stratford on the day.