SPECTATORS are prohibited and the tightest of biosecurity protocols will apply for the limited number of officials and participants on-track.
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But despite those restrictions, nothing can detract from the joy of harness racing's return to Charlton on Monday.
It's the day the Charlton Harness Racing Club has long looked forward to since the move to regional racing hubs in April, with Charlton trainers racing exclusively at Bendigo's Lord's Raceway for an initial period of eight weeks and at a select few tracks in the period since.
The club is thrilled with the response to the eight-race meeting, particularly from hometown trainers, who have combined to have nine runners.
Charlton newcomer Michael Gadsden leads the way with four runners, Mark Boyle and John Tormey have two apiece, while Greg Norman has one.
After such a long break between meetings, club president Joey Thompson said it would be great to see horses back on the track again at Charlton Park
"(The return) comes with the strictest of protocols, but it's great for the local trainers," he said.
"We'll certainly get the word out to our members over the weekend and advise them how they can watch the races online on Trots Vision.
"We'll also get to use our facilities a bit, albeit only for the administration side of things. We can't wait to the day it is fully operational."
The club has extended an official welcome to the town's newest training team of Michael Gadsden and Denbeigh Wade by naming race five in their honour.
The couple will get the rare opportunity to win a race bearing their name by having two of the seven starters in the field - Markleigh Jill and Markleigh Caz.
Gadsden rated Markleigh Jill, who put together back-to-back wins at Bendigo last month and will be driven by Wade, as the stronger of the two chances.
"It's nice of the club to name a race after us, so hopefully we can bring home a win in that one," he said.
"Markleigh Jill is going good and if she can find the front it will take something good to roll her.
"Her win three starts back at Bendigo when she led was pretty good, but she was a little bit ordinary at Ballarat, but really went well again at Echuca the other night.
"She just found one (La Puddie) who was a little better, but she held the rest off pretty well after doing a bit of work, so, I'm very happy with how she's going."
The Tormey-trained Hancocks Hero swells the number of Charlton-trained horses in the field to three.
Arguably Gadsden and Wade's best shot at a win arrives in race six with a stable newcomer, the former New Zealand pacer The Interceptor.
"He came over here a few months ago before all the COVID hit and has just been working along," he said.
"He's been ready to go for a week or two now, but when we saw the Charlton meeting coming up, we thought we'd save him for a race on his home track."
Monday's fields will be published in Monday's Bendigo Advertiser.
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