Friday, 27 April 2012: Melbourne Racing Club will host the annual National Jockeys' Trust Race Day at Caulfield on Saturday.
The day pays homage to the contribution that jockeys make and have made to the racing industry, commemorates jockeys who have lost their lives in riding accidents and raises funds for the National Jockeys' Trust.
Established in 2004, the National Jockeys' Trust is a public charitable trust with a charter to provide funds and other benefits for the relief of the financial difficulties and needs of jockeys and their families, especially where such needs arise through serious injury, illness or death of a jockey.
One of the major highlights on the card of racing is the Listed $100,000 National Jockeys' Trust Redoute's Choice Stakes, conducted for the first time under that title after being previously run as the Blue Sapphire Stakes.
Formerly won by Black Caviar, the National Jockeys' Trust Redoute's Choice Stakes is named after the colt who won the Blue Diamond Stakes, Caulfield Guineas and C.F. Orr Stakes at Caulfield before retiring to become one of the best stallions to stand in Australia.
Australian Jockeys Association General Manager, Des O'Keeffe, spoke of the importance of the National Jockeys' Trust and Saturday's race day.
“The Trust has provided much-needed assistance, exceeding $1 million, to over 100 applicants since 2004. It receives no assistance from Government and relies solely on the generous support of individuals and corporates in the racing industry to generate funds.
"The significance of this race day cannot be underestimated,” Mr O'Keeffe said.
The fundamental objective of the Saturday's race day at Caulfield is to raise funds through race sponsorship, National Jockeys' Trust merchandise sales, corporate hospitality packages, and donations.
Caulfield will also host an event of an entirely different nature on Saturday, with the final Victorian heat of the Miss Universe Australia 2012 Preliminaries to take place in the Black Caviar Pavilion.
Check out our
FREE Interactive Speed Maps for meetings in nine countries each and every day.
