Peter Hibberd, The Buloke Times

The Wedderburn and District Harness Racing Club returned to its own track last Sunday, with a major upgrade to the Donaldson Park complex and torrential rain last year, the club finally got to run its feature races.

These two races have not been at the track since 2022 and the amount of work required to get the track into race condition has been enormous. President Bruce Hargreaves said without Reeves Earthmoving and the countless hours by volunteers and his committee, this day might not have happened.

Life membership

Life memberships of any club are not just handed out; last Sunday past president Gavan Holt gave these prestigious awards to Bruce Hargreaves and Tom Nisbet. Having known both of these people for a very long time, when asking a question, you could tell of the love of their club and the harness racing industry. When asked how long in the harness racing both could not give a date – they said when it’s in your bloodlines that’s your destiny.

On the track

It was ladies day as far as the results went, with Donna Castles training three winners of which she drove two of those winners. Jackie Barker drove two winners and Rebecca Bartley drove one winner, which happened to be the winner of the Pacing Cup.

Feature races

The club ran its two feature races plus the time honoured Central Victorian Racing and Trotting Championships.

The Reeves Earthmoving Trotter’s Cup was won by BerriesandCherries trained and driven by Donna Castles, starting off the 20-metre handicap, worked around the field to sit outside the leader and won by 2 metres.
The Central Victorian Trotter’s Championship was won very impressively by John’s Boy driven by Tristan Larsen. Both horse and driver are from New Zealand. To put more “Kiwi” into the win, owners from Invercargill, New Zealand were on course to witness the very easy win.

The Loddon Shire Wedderburn Pacing Cup was a very keen affair with some of country Victoria’s horses running. Western Sonador only returned to racing in early December after recovering from a major injury. Driven by Rebecca Bartley, it worked around the field to score in a very tight photo; the margins a neck by a nose. The Central Victorian Pacing Champion-ship was won by Valiente, driven by “Herby” and trained by Ben Pell, who is in the early years of his training career.

Highlights

• Over 350 memberships sold.
• Enormous crowd.
• Umbrella village – first time ever.
• Racing has changed at the “Burn”, not a leader’s track any more.

Well done to Bruce, Tom, your committee and volunteers, all your efforts rewarded.

Coming up – Charlton this Friday.

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 29 January 2025.