A change of date and an added special feature will bring a new dimension to South Africa’s premier marathon horseracing event, the R1.2-million Canon Gold Cup, which will be staged at Greyville Racecourse in Durban on June 26 instead of its usual date on the first Saturday in August. This move is as a consequence of the requirement to move the massive Vodacom Durban July meeting from its traditional first Saturday of July position to 31 July, three weeks after the World Cup final.

With thousands of World Cup soccer supports in the country attendance at this year’s Canon Gold Cup event is likely to be boosted and turnover for the day is expected to be better than ever with the possibility of large payouts in the exotic bets like the Pick 6, Jackpot and Place Accumulator.

In keeping with the spirit of the world’s biggest sporting event, the theme for the meeting this year is Flag Frenzy and introduces to the meeting for the first time the Invited Designer fashion feature involving 10 specially selected leading fashion designers. At a previous event the designers each drew a national flag from the famous Gold Cup and will base their creations on the ethos of the countries they represent.

Canon Gold Cup day has a long history of elegant sophistication and is a special occasion for KwaZulu-Natal and racing in general as it not only stages the leading 3 200m event in the country, but it is one of the main projects in Gold Circle’s community service programme. By providing marquees, tables and chairs free of charge to 18 charity organisations in the Durban area, the charities are able to host hundreds of community conscious supporters in their venues for the day and raise much needed funds to help the less fortunate in the region.

The Canon Gold Cup day is a festive occasion with a 12-race card going through into the evening. The marathon event draws the leading stayers in South Africa to the venue and as the runners pass the grandstand twice on their journey, the thunder of the pounding hooves as they storm down the straight at the start of the race increases the excitement of the event.

The change of dates for both the Vodacom Durban July and the Canon Gold Cup has meant trainers have had to adjust training programmes and target races for their charges. With the long distance event now being run more than a month before the country’s greatest race instead of a month after, different strategies are having to be adopted with training programmes either being brought forward for the Canon Gold Cup or put back for the Vodacom Durban July.

 The Canon Gold Cup meeting is also a special day for the racing public of KwaZulu-Natal. Gold Circle is very conscious of the importance of their loyalty and thanks them for their support throughout the year by offering a host of special and valuable prizes during the day.

For more information on the day visit www.canongoldcup.co.za or www.championsseason.co.za