Harness Racing Victoria has revealed the make-up of an incredible feature race support programme for its reimagined Summer of Glory carnival in early 2026.
An amazing 11 Group 1s will be run across the six-week period between January 10 and February 14, with a host of Group 2, Group 3 and listed races strategically placed throughout the early part of the season to complement the headline events.
Cranbourne and Kilmore have elevated their pacing ($150,000) and trotters ($75,000) cups, while Ballarat has upped its squaregaiting feature ($75,000) in the build-up to the A G Hunter Cup and Great Southern Star.
The Maori Mile has also been lifted from $75,000 to $100,000 in 2026 to provide an exciting start to the carnival at Bendigo’s Lord’s Raceway on January 10.
The spotlight then moves to Shepparton on January 17 and over to Ballarat on January 24, with the golden pathway to the A G Hunter Cup and Great Southern Star meeting at Melton on February 14 taking in Cranbourne and Kilmore on January 31 and February 7 respectively.
The blockbuster feature race calendar includes key races for both gaits and sexes, with a particular emphasis on free-for-all horses, three, four and five-year-old pacers and trotters, and aged mares across both disciplines.
“Summer is always a wonderful time for harness racing in Victoria and the development of the enhanced feature race schedule is designed to encourage participants, both from around Australia and New Zealand, to visit Victoria for an extended stay during our Summer of Glory carnival,” HRV Head of Racing Greg Gangle said.
“We have repositioned several of our feature races throughout the season to the Summer of Glory carnival in the hope of encouraging trainers to bring a team of horses to Victoria to chase the riches on offer at Bendigo, Shepparton, Ballarat, Cranbourne, Kilmore and Melton, which will in turn greatly benefit the quality of meetings at those venues.
“This promises to be an exciting festival for harness racing fans in early 2026.”
Champion NSW trainer-driver Luke McCarthy is one participant keen to target Victoria in early 2026, and will do so with a team of stars including Miracle Mile and TAB Eureka champion Don Hugo.
“It’s perfect really,” McCarthy said of the carnival. “You can bring a team down and be based there and try to aim at which races you think suit at the time.
“Hopefully I have four or five handy ones to come down for the carnival.”
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL SUMMER OF GLORY FEATURE RACE CALENDAR
