In Brief
- 24/25 KI season in the books.
- Mayoral Privileges a star of the season.
- Over $16k given to local clubs.
The 2024/25 King Island Racing Season concluded last Saturday, 25 January, wrapping up a successful two months of racing on the island.
With an ageing population and costs for putting the racing on only increasing, the ‘rumour mill’ has been suggesting that this season may have been the last for racing on King Island, but Tasracing CEO Andrew Jenkins says support for racing on King Island remains strong.
“We understand the impact that King Island racing has on the local economy, and we’ve again seen great numbers of people heading to King Island race meetings this season,” Jenkins said.
“We plan to meet with the King Island Racing Club in March to discuss the future, but we love what King Island racing brings to the broader Ladbrokes Summer Racing Festival.”
After this season’s first meeting was abandoned due to high winds, seven dual code meetings were run, consisting of five thoroughbred and two harness races, on each program.
From a thoroughbred perspective, the Jim Taylor-trained Mayoral Privileges was the undisputed star of the show, winning five races in succession across the last five meetings of the season.
The Graeme Keeley-trained Noblezzz Advice matched that tally with the harness races on King Island, also notching five victories.
Leading Tasmanian jockey Kelvin Sanderson was a frequent visitor to King Island, registering 13 winners at an impressive strike rate of 37%.
“It’s been great King Island; I really enjoy heading over. It’s really casual over there, and it’s been good to land some winners,” said Sanderson.
The King Island Bowls Club were winners of $3,000.
At the 18 January meeting, Tasracing and the King Island Racing Club donated over $16,000 to local clubs in the Community and Sports Clubs Challenge.
In total, 17 clubs on King Island benefitted from the challenge, with grand prizes of $3,000 going to Snodgrass Park Inc. and King Island Bowls Club.
Snodgrass Park provides affordable living for older King Island residents who need to live closer to town.
“The Committee of Snodgrass Park would like to convey their thanks for the opportunity to be part of the Challenge. The winning funds will be put towards the renovations that are currently being done to two of the units.”
Now running for over 130 years, racing on King Island remains a tourist attraction, with champion jockey Damien Oliver one of the big names who attended the races there this season.