It wasn’t just the fine fashions that had punters hot under the collar as over 1,300 racegoers braved the heat and humidity at the return of the Moulamein Races.
“We were all pretty excited, because it’s been four years since we’ve had a race meeting,” said Moulamein Racing Club president Nick McKindlay.
“We were getting to the point where we didn’t know whether we would actually have another race meeting.”
Saturday’s success was a testament to the stoic spirit of communities like Moulamein.
“Just when we were coming up to the race, we started having power issues.
“One of the fuses in the transformer dropped out and we suddenly had half power.
“After four years of waiting, the race affiliation said we couldn’t run if we didn’t have water pumps and the PA system running. It didn’t look good for a while; we weren’t sure we were going to have a race meeting at all.
“We called the community and we got three generators, and quickly got it all together and got power underway and got pumps going.
“We were about an hour behind for the first race.
“For me, I was actually fairly emotional when the race caller said, ‘it’s been four years since the last race and we’re one hour late, but we’re ready to start the first race’. When he said, ‘and they’re off’, I can tell you I had a tear in my eye.”
The day featured a full six-race program with organisers and officials doing an amazing job to finish the day on time.
Race 1 was the 1000m Banyandah Pastoral Company & Robinson Excavations Maiden Handicap, Nathan Hobson trained Kumana taking out the win ridden by Makisha Salter.
Race 2 was the 1000m Glowreys The Riverina Law Firm Benchmark 50 Handicap, Helen Burns trained Rafha’s Choice coming in first, ridden by Randy Tan.
Race 3 was the 1200m BR&C Agents Terry Vallance Memorial Maiden Plate, Noel Watson trained Kawaiisu taking the win, ridden by Cameron Quilty.
Race 4 was the 1200m Elders Benchmark 58 Handicap, Craig Weeding trained A Bit Racey got home first, ridden by Bradley Vale.
Race 5 was the main feature of the day, the 1600m APCO Service Stations Moulamein Cup, Austy Coffey trained Show Me Champagne taking out the title, ridden by Tara-Jane Duffy.
Race 6 was the 1600m Andrew McKindlay Memorial Class 1 and Maiden Plate, Con Kelly trained Factored In ridden by Randy Tan.
The fashions didn’t disappoint, with a full field of those dressed to the nines. The winners were:
- Kids 0-7 years – Edward Redfearn and Mila Chalmers
- 8-17 years – William Redfearn and Indianna Gray
- Lady of the Day – Rhiannon Chalmers
- Millinery of the Day – Natalie Barnes
- Gent of the Day – Darcy Hare
- Couple of the Day – Ella Lodge and Wes Gray
Saturday was the first time the marquee had been utilised for the races.
“It was very, very well received,” said Moulamein Race Committee secretary Katarni McGlashan.
“The feedback we’ve had from people, have just said it was really, really lovely.
“The airflow and everything worked beautifully, that people at the back of the marquee could see all the way through to the racetrack.
“It was a really lovely social, well organised space.”
The committee wished to thank the local groups who helped make the day possible.
“The Moulamein Football Netball Club did a fantastic job on the bar,” said Nick.
“It’s a good community event, we’ve got the fire brigade running the gate for us, the football netball club running the bar and we had the Barham Lions Club running the barbecue. It’s putting a bit of money back into the communities as well.
“If we have any sort of profits above what it will take to run, our next committee will be donating a bit of money to the local community.”
The day couldn’t run without the generosity of sponsors and Nick wished to thank new sponsor APCO Service Stations for coming on board, along with the other major sponsors Elders, BR&C, Banyandah Pastoral, Robinson Excavations, Glowreys Riverina Law Firm and Arentz and Barker Livestock Agents.
See all the pictures from the event in the issue.
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 14 December 2023.
