Valley Girl winning the 2016 Herbie Dyke Stakes
Trish Dunell
The Waikato Racing Club and the Estate of H.S. Dyke are pleased to announce a significant increase in the stake of the Group 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes to be run at the Te Rapa race course on 11 February 2017.
The race will be run for total prizemoney of $400,000 – an increase of $100,000 on the 2016 edition of the race – further enhancing its status as the richest Weight-For-Age race in New Zealand.
Karyn Fenton-Ellis, the Chairman of the Waikato Racing Club, was delighted at the stake increase:
"The late Herbie Dyke, a past Club Chairman and Life Member, was a man who contributed enormously to the Club and indeed to the Waikato and New Zealand business arenas. It is an honour for this Club to continue to be an industry leader with exciting initiatives such as this – made possible by the generosity and passion of the Dyke family. Delivering a stake of this level will generate huge interest in racing across the Waikato region and well beyond – you can be certain that this race will attract entries from all over New Zealand and potentially Australia.
"There is so much good news to report for the Waikato Racing Club – this massive stake increase, the development of our inside track and of course Stage 1 of our major facilities' refurbishment project which we expect to be completed in time for SkyCity Hamilton Waikato Cup Day. The Club continues to go from strength to strength."
Steven Dyke, representing the Dyke Family, added: "Simon and I are thrilled today to be involved with the Waikato Racing Club in announcing that this great race, in memory of our late father who loved racing and this wonderful club, will be run for a stake of $400,000 in 2017. One of life's great weight for age performers himself, he'd be very proud to be associated with this country's richest event in this class."
In other changes to the conditions of this prestigious Group 1 event, early nominations will be announced shortly and prizemoney will be paid back to 10thplace for the first time. Interested parties can go to www.nzracing.co.nz for more details.
The race will be run for total prizemoney of $400,000 – an increase of $100,000 on the 2016 edition of the race – further enhancing its status as the richest Weight-For-Age race in New Zealand.
Karyn Fenton-Ellis, the Chairman of the Waikato Racing Club, was delighted at the stake increase:
"The late Herbie Dyke, a past Club Chairman and Life Member, was a man who contributed enormously to the Club and indeed to the Waikato and New Zealand business arenas. It is an honour for this Club to continue to be an industry leader with exciting initiatives such as this – made possible by the generosity and passion of the Dyke family. Delivering a stake of this level will generate huge interest in racing across the Waikato region and well beyond – you can be certain that this race will attract entries from all over New Zealand and potentially Australia.
"There is so much good news to report for the Waikato Racing Club – this massive stake increase, the development of our inside track and of course Stage 1 of our major facilities' refurbishment project which we expect to be completed in time for SkyCity Hamilton Waikato Cup Day. The Club continues to go from strength to strength."
Steven Dyke, representing the Dyke Family, added: "Simon and I are thrilled today to be involved with the Waikato Racing Club in announcing that this great race, in memory of our late father who loved racing and this wonderful club, will be run for a stake of $400,000 in 2017. One of life's great weight for age performers himself, he'd be very proud to be associated with this country's richest event in this class."
In other changes to the conditions of this prestigious Group 1 event, early nominations will be announced shortly and prizemoney will be paid back to 10thplace for the first time. Interested parties can go to www.nzracing.co.nz for more details.