Woop Woop Cup is a highlight of country racing folklore and kicks off a busy program of Mid North Coast racing on Boxing Day at Wauchope.
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It attracts a big holiday crowd keen to relax in the revamped country surroundings to watch and party with some great racing after enjoying Christmas.
The Wauchope Jockey Club is a great believer in putting on a entertaining show for locals and holidaymakers and have spent vital funds and person power to have the Beechwood Road, Wauchope, headquarters looking at its finest for the club's biggest day.
Club president Steve Smith,who will have many horses competing at the meeting, and his committee have worked all year to ready the course for the influx of racegoers.
Trainers signalling being keen to have runners at the meeting are Colt Prosser, his father, Grant, Michael O'Neill, all from Wauchope; Port Macquarie trainer Neil Godbolt, Gladstone-Kempsey mentors Peter Ball and Barry Ratcliff, along with Terry Evans from Tuncurry.
Mid North Coast premier jockeys Peter Graham from Port and Belinda Hodder from Wauchope have already been booked for runners at the meeting.
Both jockeys have been in rare form of late with Graham having a winning treble at Taree and Hodder having a spree of winning doubles at meetings in the country.
The highlight is the Woop Woop Cup which by country non-TAB standards is one of the richest with prizemoney of $9000, up from $5000 two years ago.
Last year it was a hometown victory for Smith and Colt Prosser with five-year-old mare Steel Allure, ridden by Graham, a former Wauchope boy, it scoring by 1.5 lengths from sentimental nine-year-old gelding Wannabe, formerly owned by the late Steve Cook whose name was etched in memorial for the 2012 Woop Woop Cup.
Port favourite Belaction, trained by Tas Morton, was a head away in third place.
The 1800m race is a great spectacle with horses passing the winning post twice on the tight turning track.
Prosser and Smith are again combining to try and win the cup with six-year-old gelding Firming and consistent Rigamarole, the trainer also probably starting Three Lucky Eights in which his mother, Debbie, has an interest.
Firming recently trialled well for second,beaten easily by handy Port mare Alcancia, trained by Jenny Graham, at Taree in readiness for the gruelling event.
Prosser hopes to have possibly a half dozen more gallopers for the five-race card, one being Happy Rebel which won at Port on Saturday, General Store and Inspector Lipp.
"I get immense satisfaction in winning races on my hometown track," said Prosser.
The cup was won by Thundergaze, trained at Wyong by Andrew Eastcott in 2011 and Bandmaster in 2010, it being trained at Wauchope by Grant Prosser.
Trainers of other winners last year were Port's John Sprague with A Rare Old Time and Etrain, fellow trainer Tom Higgins with Official Miracle and Colt Prosser with Happy Rebel which is unbeaten at the track.
Acceptances for the meeting must be known on Monday and local papers will have a preview of the meeting which carries $33,000 prizemoney, plus trophies.
Then on January 1, Port Macquarie Race Club holds one of its biggest, crowd-wise, TAB meetings with Taree Wingham Race Club having a big eight-race TAB card on Friday, January 3 to start a run of holiday meetings on the Mid North Coast.