It may be the best part of an hour to the coast but punters had reason to celebrate the surf meeting the turf at Murray Bridge last Friday when eight of the nine races were won by well supported runners.

Promoted by the Murray Bridge Racing Club as the Australia Day Beach Party, the big day attracted a strong young crowd of just on 2000 patrons who took advantage of ideal weather conditions and large quality fields.

The day was also a triumph for local racing, with local trainers provided the trifecta in the Hallett Ski Boat Australia Day Cup.

In a hotly contested affair, Stuart Dodd won the feature race with the in-form Polynesian, while Darryl Hewitt and Kylie Huxtable filled the minor placings with Sparkling Now and Jillimarg.

Ben Hoppo rode the winner to perfection to come with a well times run to claim victory by a long neck in one of many stirring finishes. The win also chalked up a double for Dodd, whose four-year-old Strategic gelding Rain Strategy collected an earlier maiden in a tight three-way finish.

Promising apprentice Dean Holland was the only multiple winner among the jockeys as he steered favourites Strategic Affair and Wingspiel to successive wins in the middle of the program.

The only blemish for punters was the result of the distance race, a class 3 event run over 2200m. The race was a blowout for punters, with 30/1 outsider Durham Downs finding his best form to down 20/1 chance Bengreta Lad and the consistent I’m John. The remaining races were won by either favourites are runners under double figures that came in for some support.

The big winner on the day was the club’s decision to promote a beach theme as a means of attracting new people to the races. It achieved the desired result, with the Beach Bar offering a range of cocktails including dacquiris, live music, barbecues with snags and prawns, kids rides and an auto exhibition bringing a younger crowd to the track.

“It was great to see so many young people on the track as well as our regular patrons,” Murray Bridge secretary manager John Buhagiar said.

“We had young families here and significantly also saw a lot of people in their early 20s taking advantage of the relaxed mood, great entertainment (acoustically and visually) and a bit of fun as a good introduction to racing.”

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