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Harness Racing New South Wales’ Carnival of Cups is back and participants and racegoers are All Fired Up for what promises to be an even bigger and better series across the state.
The revamped Carnival of Cups has taken regional New South Wales by storm over the past 12 months with some of the biggest names in Australian music bringing their signature hits trackside to complement a quality racing experience.
Now in Season 2, Harness Racing New South Wales has announced the iconic hit "All Fired Up" by Pat Benatar will be used as the anthem tune across the series.
And just like in Season 1, one of the high-profile singers or bands on each event line-up will be tasked with covering the timeless classic and putting their own spin on it for the thousands in attendance.
Western New South Wales' favourite son Shannon Noll will take on the job when Season 2 launches in Parkes on Friday night.
"What a song to be asked to cover. I just hope I can do it justice and just as the song implies, really fire up the crowd as this season of Carnival of Cups kicks off in Parkes. I can't wait," Nollsy said.
"The band know it's an important part of the Carnival of Cups legacy so we've been practicing it and doing our best to put our own touch on all-time classic."
The theme song has formed part of the Carnival of Cups experience since it was re-launched in November 2022.
The Bruce Springsteen hit "Born to Run" was used across the five events in Season 1, with artists such as The Whitlams, Sarah McLeod, Adam Brand and The Screaming Jets taking on the song.
"We found that it became a real focal point of each event in the Season 1 and the bands we asked to take it on really put a lot of time and effort into making it the best they could for racegoers," HRNSW Marketing Manager Paul Cochrane said.
"At some events we let racegoers know who was doing it and at others we kept it a mystery so it would just suddenly appear during the night which was just as cool. But for this one, the cat's out of the bag! Nollsy will be doing All Fired Up and from the rehearsals I've heard so far he is going to smash it out of the park!"
Country stars Robbie Mortimer and Sara Berki will join Shannon Noll and headliners The Living End on an all-star bill, with local favourite Michael Green helping warm-up the crowd.
On the track, the feature race will be the inaugural running of The Dish, which doubles as the opening leg of the Carnival of Cups racing incentive program which sees a million dollars up for grabs.
