Chief executive Duane Dowell doesn't believe Newcastle Jockey Club should react to a potential one-off and move their cup day features, despite criticism of the size and quality of fields for last Friday's group 3 races.
The NJC's two-day spring carnival was an overwhelming success trackside with about 5000 in attendance and strong wagering turnover.
The win of Durston in the $250,000 Newcastle Gold Cup (2300m) signalled his potential for higher honours this spring. He was reeled into favouritism for the group 1 Metropolitan Handicap following his impressive three and a half-length victory.
However, the fact he raced in a seven-horse field which attracted only nine acceptors was a concern.
More concerning was the Cameron Handicap (1500m) field, which had just six runners after Cross Talk, Old Flame, Purple Sector and Laure Me In were scratched the morning of the race. Overnight rain made the track a heavy 8 but it improved to a soft 7 by race one and soft 6 by the sixth.
Wild Chap's victory in the $200,000 Cameron was a dream result for Kembla trainer Brett Lazzarini and a first group win for apprentice Reece Jones but it highlighted the race's depth. The six-year-old gelding's biggest previous win was at benchmark 72 level. The Cameron win gives Wild Chap a spot in the Epsom Handicap but Lazzarini was eyeing the $1 million The Gong.
The Tibbie Stakes, for fillies and mares, was won by Kerry Parker's Hope In Your Heart and had 12 runners. That was down from a capacity of 16 the previous two editions. The Cameron had 13, 11 and 15 runners the previous three years, while the Cup had 14, 15 and 15.
Sky Racing commentator Ron Dufficy tweeted on Friday morning that: "These feature races at Newcastle have to go to The Hunter day" before adding: "The facts are the meeting is horribly placed. It's embarrassing one of these horses in the Cameron will take an Epsom spot."
The Cup and Cameron have long competed for runners with group 3 features at Randwick, the Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) and Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m), the following day.
Dowell said he was not worried about this year's dip, and pointed to the strong fields in recent years. He acknowledged the Cameron's clash with the Bill Ritchie but said the NJC wouldn't rush into any changes.
"We'll have a look at it but I'd prefer to see a trend rather than react to a one-off," Dowell said. "We haven't had trends of small Cameron fields. If we had fields of five or six for a few years, you would get more serious about a review. But they have been pretty good, so I'm not concerned."
As for moving races to November's Hunter standalone program, Dowell said the Cameron and Cup would lose their places as lead-up events to spring features and they would also clash with major races on that day.
He said the Cameron (1500m) would attract similar horses as the $1 million The Hunter (1300m) and the following week's The Gong (1600m) at Kembla. As for the cup (2300m), the NJC already have the $300,000 Beauford over the same distance on The Hunter card.
He said a race that will be reviewed is the benchmark 68 handicap (1600m) for three and four-year-olds, which had just five runners. It was created to replace the Spring Stakes, which moved to The Hunter day in 2019.
On the positive side, Dowell was thrilled with the crowd of about 2400 for Friday and close to 2600 for Saturday. Betting turnover on the cup race was also better than the previous two years.
He said cup day TOTE betting was about $1.4 million and overall turnover "may nudge $3 million, which is a really good result".
