The club was forced to cancel meetings during the COVID lockdown as the showground, where the track is located, was being used as a drive-thru testing facility.

While meetings have been at Bathurst and Parkes in recent months, many local trainers and drivers were forced to go without.

And while members of the public won't be allowed at the track on Friday night, the meeting will launch an exciting period for the Dubbo Harness Racing Club.

"It will be a good night of racing. We've got eight very good races," club president Len Edwards said, before looking forward.

"And it's warmer now coming into the summer so it will be nice for people to come and sit and enjoy. Our next meeting in November is the Gilgandra Cup meeting and it's a wonderful meeting and that leads up to the Red Ochre and then Boxing Night.

"Our future looks bright."

There will be strong fields for each of the eight races on Friday night.

Many of the western area's best stables, the likes of the Turnbulls and Hewitts of Bathurst, will be in attendance but there will also be strong local representation.

Eleven Dubbo-based trainers will race on the night.

While some trainers like Barry Lew and Greg Pay have been able to keep racing in Bathurst or Parkes, some haven't raced since the most recent Dubbo meeting in July.

A large number of those who train in Dubbo are hobby trainers or people with other full-time work commitments, so the ease of having racing back at home has been welcomed.

"It's wonderful," Edwards said.

"People have to realise training a horse these days, there's a fair bit of expense involved.

"If you've got to travel all over the place and for the hobby trainers and jockeys or owners, it's a lot of money.

"To be able to race locally is a great boost ... there's a good number (of locals). We've lost a few over the years but that happens everywhere.

"We've still got quite a few local trainers and what's so good is that we've got local owners who support local trainers and all that's happening here."

There was support for the recent stallion tender the club runs, with money raised to go towards prizemoney for the Red Ochre Fillies and Mares Classic later this year.

That meeting and the Boxing Night meeting just over a week later will be a massive time for the club, but before that there is Friday's meeting.

The Robert and Gina Marshall Appreciation Pace (2120m) shapes as one of the races of the night.

There's a number of leading contenders, with the Amanda Turnbull trained-and-driven Urus to resume from a three-month spell while the Nigel Frisby-trained Tinka Terror has a win and two seconds from the past three starts.

There will be plenty of local interest in Lew's Great Presence, who will be second-up from a spell following four wins in seven starts during his first preparation, while the Mat Rue-trained Oh One Job is bred and owned by Coffee sisters Amanda and Sharon and has recorded four wins in nine career starts.

The first of eight races is at 6.22pm on Friday.

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