Ray Neville

The King's Birthday long weekend provided the perfect opportunity for a special family reunion in Birchip as members of the Neville family gathered to celebrate the recently completed Ray Neville silo murals. The visit was sparked by Ray's daughter, Lyn Dumesny of Rockhampton, who was travelling to Victoria and was keen to see the impressive artwork honouring her father on the Birchip silos.

A defining moment in Birchip's history now stands proudly above the town, with the remarkable story of Ray Neville and Rimfire brought to life on the Birchip silos. The project, driven by Birchip Community Forum, was first initiated by the late Joan Glen in 2023 and has been passionately carried forward by her husband Rod.

At just 15 years old, Ray Neville stunned the racing world with a Melbourne Cup victory. Now, nearly eight decades later, his hometown of Birchip is ensuring that remarkable moment in sporting history will be remembered, with work under way on a silo mural in his honour.

Robin Letts. It was 1948, the year after I had left the Royal Australian Naval College at HMAS “Cerberus”, to take up a position with the family newspaper, “The Donald Times” ... During an informal chat prior to the running of the 1948 Melbourne Cup, Howard had told me of a small wager he had made on a horse called Rimfire, to be ridden by Birchip jockey, Ray Neville.