Saddle Cloth Numbers To Be Aligned With Draws In Western Cape Racing
Hollywoodbets Punters Challenge To Be Attached To All Western Cape Meetings
With a history dating back to 1898 and a rustic tranquillity that makes it one of the most scenic racecourses on the African continent, Hollywoodbets Durbanville Racecourse is set to come alive with top flight horses and excited racegoers as the Hollywoodbets Spring Country Series launches on Wednesday, 7 September.
This innovative series casts the spotlight on the ‘Country Course’ from 7 September to 19 October, and incorporates eight must-attend race meetings, highlighted by the running of the traditional Cape summer season launch-pads of the Hollywoodbets Gr3 Matchem Stakes and Gr3 Diana Stakes on Saturday, 1 October. Both features have long and proud histories and are run over the left-handed 1 400m course.
The intimacy and rural ambience of the course lends itself to a day of maximising the thrills of thoroughbred horseracing with a blend of family-oriented activities, including a Durbanville Wine Route experience, authentic South African experiences, competitions and on-course entertainment second to none.
Adding to the splash of colour, Western Cape horseracing will welcome the introduction of barrier draws aligned with distinctive saddle cloths with effect from the Hollywoodbets Durbanville race meeting on 7 September 2022.
In a change from the top-weight-down, or alphabetical order, horses racing in the Cape will now also be carded according to barrier positions, regardless of the allocated weights. In tandem with the implementation of the draw numbering, uniquely assigned saddle cloth colours will be allocated to specific numbers.
The concept, which is used in some international jurisdictions, was introduced in 2019 in KwaZulu-Natal and serves the purpose of making it simple for both new and established racing fans to follow their selections from the saddle cloth number and standardised saddle cloth colour, through to the starting stalls where the number and colour are clearly displayed. This will make it easier to spot your horse from parade ring, to start line to finishing post.
Reserve runners will no longer be allocated a barrier draw, but should there be a scratching, the reserve will automatically take up the barrier gate of the scratched horse that it replaces.
Punters, from the casual through to big spending high rollers, will be looked after with the introduction of the very popular Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge on all Western Cape race meetings.
The Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge is a free-to-enter tipping competition, requiring players to select one horse in each of the carded races on a race day.
The Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge was also recently launched on all Singapore racemeetings.
The bonus jackpot, payable to the player/s who selects all winners on the day, will commence at R200 000 at the launch racemeeting at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on 7 September, and increases by R5 000 every meeting where the jackpot is not won, to a maximum of R500 000.
Daily prize money of R5 000 for each of the scheduled racemeetings will be shared by the top 20 players on the day’s leaderboard, with the winner banking R2 000, the runner-up R1 000, the third-placer R500, with R250 to fourth, R125 awarded to 5th to 10th finisher, and the balance, inclusive of 20th finisher, receiving R50 each.
It’s really quite simple to follow. Points are awarded in accordance with finishing positions i.e. – in a 12-horse field, the winner will be awarded twelve points, runner-up is eleven points and so on, with the last horse being awarded one point.
The winning selection receives a bonus calculated on the Hollywoodbets starting price. Points are awarded according to the price of the winner only. Finding value winners will thus probably be the tactical key to unlocking the treasure chest of the big cash prizes!
Using an example – if the winner of a 12-horse race starts at 12.5/1 (13.5), then the players selecting that horse will be awarded 25.5 points – being 12 plus an additional 13.5 points for the starting price.
Adding to the enjoyment, thrills and rollercoaster ride, the Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge website allows players to follow the score as the race day unfolds.
Despite the competition being a test of skill, Lady Luck inevitably plays her part. The game is thus plenty of fun and very rewarding to everyone from the shrewdest form-studier, to those learning the racing ropes, and even budding fans enjoying horseracing for the first time.
All that is required to enter is an active Hollywoodbets account. Players have the option to utilise their own name, or to create a non-de-plume. Entries must be logged by no later than five minutes prior to the opening race on the relevant programme.
Become a part of the enjoyment and fun that only horseracing offers, and find out more about the Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge by visiting www.punters.hollywoodbets.net today. Full competition terms and conditions are also available on the website.
The Cape Summer Season will be the national focal point of horseracing from 1 November to 28 February 2023, with high-class feature contests setting the scene for a refreshing return of horse racing to its action-packed best, where the sky is the limit