Bunbury Turf Club boss Alex Doble hails second Bunbury Cup at newly-redeveloped venue a roaring success

Bunbury Turf Club chief executive Alex Doble has hailed the second running of the Bunbury Cup at the newly-developed venue as a roaring success. About 7500 punters packed into the venue on Saturday to see Captain Pluto justify Bunbury Cup favouritism by winning the $150,000 Listed race after Triple Missile stormed home from last at the bend to claim the Bunbury Stakes. Despite the South West’s biggest day of racing falling on the same date as the State election and some light rain dotting the region in the morning, the crowd was bigger than last year, which was the first running of the event at the club since 2021. Doble said he was “over the moon” with how both cup day and the wider season had gone. “(A bigger crowd than last year) is quite an achievement on the back of the sugar hit of the first season when you’ve been offline for two and a half years . . . it’s really pleasing to outstrip last year’s attendance numbers, it puts us in a really good spot moving forward,” he said. “It was really pleasing to see so many in early and they continued to roll in until about two, three o’clock and then plenty stuck around for the music after the last. “The track itself’s just improved out of sight from last March and it will continue to do so.” Racing at the club will now go into recess ahead of returning in the winter, which was made possible due to the track’s drainage being improved and lower-lying sections which were prone to flooding in wet weather being elevated as part of the redevelopment. The club’s first meeting of the winter will be on Thursday, June 5, only days before North Melbourne and West Coast’s historic AFL game at Hands Oval on the Sunday of that week. Doble said the club was in discussions with the City of Bunbury and the Kangaroos around how to maximise the day. “We’re looking to pull together an event to be a drawing point for those North Melbourne members that may be in town,” he said. “If they’re around, it might be an opportunity for them to come track side while they spend three or four days in the South West.” The club is scheduled to host six meetings across June and July before the nominal end of the thoroughbred racing season on July 31, including the South West Cup on July 6.