Rae Pickstock-Hall, Kingaroy, chatted with friends Millie Browne, Nanango, and Marcia Brown, Fremantle, in the betting ring

September 18, 2017

Nanango’s Heritage Race Meeting on Saturday was not quite as hectic as August’s Nanango Cup, but that was due more to the start of the Spring school holidays than anything else.

A healthy field of racegoers packed out Lee Park to witness the awarding of the South-East Queensland Racing Association’s 2016-17 Premierships, take part in the Lucky Betting Slip competition and generally enjoy the warm spring weather.

A large marquee was set up at one end of the concourse so a large crowd of party-goers could celebrate an 18th birthday, and the race club’s car park was thick with vehicles most of the day.

Nanango Race Club president Andrew Green said he regretted that a dry winter had left the track a little less springy than he’d prefer, but this didn’t seem to deter horse owners.

All five races on the card all turned out to be very close-run affairs, with the slimmest of margins separating the first pair of horses past each winning post.

One special feature of the meeting was the presentation of Premierships for the top trainer, horse of the year, and top jockey.

This year, trainers Glenn Richardson and Darryl Gardiner jointly won the Trainer’s Premiership.

The Horse Of The Year award was won by Hopetoun Street, which is trained by Glenn Richardson.

And the Top Jockey trophy went to Jason Hoopert, who had taken a nasty spill at August’s Cup meeting when his horse hit the running rails and dislodged him after he’d celebrated his 100th win since returning to racing.

Hoopert, now fully recovered and fresh from a successful trip to far western Queensland, thanked Eidsvold Race Club president Lyle Murray, who attended the meeting to present the awards on behalf of the South-East Country Racing Association.

The Desiree Gill Memorial Award was won by Nanango apprentice Hannah English, which was presented to her by Desiree’s husband Barry.

Desiree Gill, 45, was a Premiership-winning Gympie jockey who was a very familiar face at South Burnett tracks.

She died in November 2013 from head injuries sustained in a fall at Caloundra racecourse, and the Apprentice Jockey’s trophy has been awarded in her memory each year since.

At the meeting, the Nanango Race Club also welcomed two new sponsors aboard – Leanne Preston, from Nanango’s Evolution Hair Studio, and Andrew Beck, from Nanango’s Star Motel.

After the last race of the day, Nanango Race Club officials conducted a draw to see who had won the meeting’s Lucky Betting Slip prize, which was offering dinner for two at Noosa’s exclusive Beach House restaurant and a night for two at Noosa’s Sofitel Hotel.

The prize, which was sponsored by the Nanango Bookmakers’ Association, was worth $600 and was won by Diane York from Hervey Bay.

Diane told southburnett.com.au she had never visited Lee Park before, but would certainly visit again after such a wonderful day trackside.

“I had wins on the first and last races, but the ones in between were pretty tragic,” Diane said.

“So winning this prize has really made my day. Thank you!”

  • The South Burnett’s next race meetings will be Wondai’s Caulfield Cup Meeting on October 21; Kumbia’s Melbourne Cup Day meeting on November 7; and Nanango’s Christmas Race Meeting on Sunday, December 3.
Race 2 sponsor Leanne Preston, from Nanango’s Evolution Hair Studios, congratulated trainer Brad Hudson and strapper Ashley Skelton on the performance of the race’s winner, La Rana Toro
Rhiona Lenkeit, from Kingaroy, was having fun at the track with her Bundaberg cousin Taleah Lenkeit and Tasma Vermeulen, Kingaroy
The South-East Country Racing Association’s 2016-17 Trainer Of The Year prize was shared by Glenn Richardson and Darryl Gardiner; Glenn was presented with his award by Lyle Murray from SECRA
The 2016-17 Desiree Gill Memorial Award for Leading Apprentice was won by Hannah English, and was presented by Barry Gill
Jockey Jason Hoopert won the 2016-17 SECRA Premier Jockey Award, and was presented his trophy by
Lyle Murray
Mistrel Badesso, from Blackbutt, was checking out the horses in the mounting yard with Maddie Harvey, 2, and Carlen McKee, from Nanango
Bill Wormer, the trainer of Race 3’s winner Nice Time, was congratulated by race sponsor Andrew Beck from Nanango’s Star Motel; it turned out both men shared a common German ancestry
Sarena Doak from Nanango was part of a large group that were celebrating an 18th birthday party at the track in a big marquee on loan from the Nanango And District Netball Association
Wally Smallwood and Megan Hall came from Kingaroy to celebrate Spring at the track
Terry Lucas and Ken Ferres from the Nanango Bookmakers Association congratulated Diane York (2nd from left) from Hervey Bay for winning the lucky betting ticket draw, with Nanango Race Club secretary Lesley Berger

* * *

The first race of the day set the tone of the meeting, with Poetic Dragon squeaking past the post barely half a neck ahead of Captain Tango …
… and things stayed just as tight through the rest of the day; in Race 3, Nice Time took the win from Oakfield Sunset by just half a neck, too

Results

Race 1 – Three Way Photos BenchMark 60 Handicap (800m)
1. Poetic Dragon (5) – Hannah English
2. Captain Tango (2) – Jason Hoopert
3. Liverpool Jane (3) – Gemma Steele
Time: 0:46.17
Margins: 1/2 Neck x 1/2 Length

Race 2 – Evolution Hair Studio Class B Handicap (1000m)
1. La Rana Toro (4) – Lachlan Dodds
2. Anxpense (1) – Gemma Steele
DISQ. Beautiful Love (3) – Joshua King
Time: 0:58.58
Margins: 3/4 Length x Nose

Race 3 – Star Motel Nanango Maiden Plate (1200m)
1. Nice Time (1) – Paul Timbery
2. Oakfield Sunset (5) – Lachlan Dodds
3. Pet Dragon (6) – Gemma Steele
Time: 1:12.39
Margins: 1/2 Neck x 1/2 Length

Race 4 – Heritage Nanango BenchMark 55 Handicap (1200m)
1. Psycho Said So (2) – Hannah English
2. Queen Of Cardiff (7) – Gemma Steele
3. Beach Head (4) – Tasha Chambers
Time: 1:10.69
Margins: Head x Short Head

Race 5 – Star Tyre Power Kingaroy BenchMark 55 Handicap (1600m)
1. Laudable Lemon (5) – Gemma Steele
2. Tiverton (3) – Jed Hodge
3. Our Clarky (1) – Lachlan Dodds
Time: 1:35.62
Margins: Long Neck x 1 1/4 Lengths

  • View videos all all five races on the Nanango Race Club’s YouTube Channel
The feature race of the day – the Heritage Nanango BenchMark 55 Handicap – was also one of the closest, with just a head and a short head separating the first three placegetters
In the day’s final race over 1600m, Laudable Lemon just pipped Tiverton at the post by a long neck, with Our Clarky one and a quarter lengths behind in third place

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.