Canberra Racing Club celebrates successful Black Opal Stakes Day

A modern-day record race day crowd enjoyed a wonderful day of Thoroughbred racing in Canberra on Sunday, 9 March 2025.

8,711 patrons witnessed over $1m in prizemoney and bonuses dispersed to the industry over 10 thrilling races.

A significant 70% of ticket holders were between the ages of 18-25 which continued the trend of racing attracting young and new customers to the sport.  

Canberra Racing Club Chief Executive Darren Pearce said, “The atmosphere at Thoroughbred Park last Sunday was electric.”

“To see so many of Canberra’s next generation enjoying our biggest race day was immensely satisfying and exciting.”

“While many enjoyed the pop-ups and music, there was a great desire to engage with the main event, the racing.”

Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou’s King Of Pop crowned himself the king of Thoroughbred Park when taking out Canberra racing’s jewel, the Group 3 John McGrath Auto Group Black Opal Stakes (1200m).

The son of Kia Ora Stud’s Farnan was an ultra-impressive winner, breaking the race record and putting himself firmly into TAB Golden Slipper contention. 

In the Listed TAB Canberra Cup (2000m), it was a tough all-the-way win for Palmetto who had to overcome a wide draw. 

It was a wonderful Tim Clark ride that got his mount into rhythm early and did enough at the back-end to fight off a number of fast finishers for Randwick Trainer John Sargent.