April 4, 2018
Nanango Race Club’s Easter Saturday race meeting drew one of the largest crowds seen at the Lee Park Raceway in many years.
The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the return of racing to what is now the South Burnett’s busiest track.
Although races had been held at Nanango as early as 1856, they only began running in the area occupied by the present-day Lee Park Raceway in 1880.
They continued to be run there until 1936, when they were put into what was meant to be a temporary halt because of the looming threat of World War II.
That halt turned out to be a 32 year wait, which only ended when a small group of volunteers decided to revive Nanango’s racing traditions in 1967.
On Easter Saturday, the Nanango Race Club recalled another Easter Saturday in 1968 when racing resumed, and the enormous advances the club has seen in Lee Park’s facilities over the intervening half century.
Before the first race of the day got underway, Race Club officials held an informal champagne and finger food buffet outside the former Nanango Railway Station building – the race club’s first office and jockey rooms – to mark the occasion.
They invited along surviving members of the foundation committee, past presidents, race callers and trainers who’d taken part in Lee Park’s revival, as well as special guests including Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington and Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff.
Nanango Race Club president Andrew Green said the Lee Park track had been purchased from the former Nanango Shire Council in 1971.
To do it, a group of seven race club members (Peter Conroy, Lloyd Hickmont, Walter Richardson, Leonard Symes, John Byrne, Reg Quilty, William Tewes, Herbert Laurie and John Howlett) had gone guarantors for a $15,000 loan.
“Given that you could buy a very good house in Drayton Street for around $12,000 in 1971, this was an amount that would be equivalent to between $300,000 and $400,000 today,” Andrew said.
“Can you imagine the commitment this group of volunteers had to personally guarantee a loan that size? What they did was absolutely incredible.”
Andrew also noted Nanango Race Club had only had five presidents in the past half century, and the most notable was John Lee, who held the office for 37 years.
Andrew said John had been responsible for most of the improvements that had been made to Lee Park over the past half century, and his contribution had been so outstanding the course was later named in his honour.
In reply, John said he never thought – or sought – that particular honour, but was immensely proud of the club and everything it had achieved, and humbled his name had been attached to the course.
Racing had been a big part of his life, and he was very pleased to see the pleasure race meetings brought to the area.
Former South Burnett Times sports editor Keith Kratzmann recalled how primitive those early days were in the age before computers and mobile phones, and the work put in by former Nanango Shire Mayor Reg McCallum – another former race club president – to develop relations with racing authorities.
In the early days, Nanango had hosted as many as 14 meetings each year.
While this has now been reduced to six, the quality of racing had improved and modern technology enabled meetings to be conducted more efficiently with far less strain on race club volunteers.
After the formalities were over, guests adjourned to the track to enjoy the day’s racing alongside a crowd that many regulars thought was one of the largest seen at Lee Park since the construction of the Tarong North Power Station.
Queensland Racing also came to the party, adding an extra race to the meeting’s usual five in response to a record number of nominations.
Punters got to enjoy a largely incident-free day where three of the six races were so tight jockeys asked to examine the winning post photos and had to give their approval before the correct weight siren could sound.
During the day, roving judges quietly moved through the crowd to award spot prizes of Moffatdale Ridge wines and other gifts from sponsors to guests who’d dressed to the meeting’s “Vintage Pink Glamour And Bonnets” fashion theme.
The ultimate winner – Christine Porter – was presented with an elaborate hand-made silver bracelet by Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff as an extra prize.
Christine later turned out to be the luckiest punter on the track when one of her losing betting tickets was drawn out of the box after the final race had been run and she discovered she’d also won the Race Club’s special prize of two nights accommodation at The Bunyas.
The South Burnett’s next race meeting will be held at the Wondai Race Course on Anzac Day, followed by the Burrandowan Picnic Races at Burrandowan on Saturday, May 12.
This will be followed by the Nanango Race Club’s Autumn race meeting on Saturday, May 26.
* * *
Results
Race 1 – Wellcamp Fabrications BenchMark 55 Handicap (800m)
1. Scarlet’s Choice (4) – Leeanne McCoy
2. Coalbank Caviar (6) – Jason Hoopert
3. Almazan (3) – Michael Schrapel
Time: 0:46.93
Margins: Short Head x Head
Race 2 – Pursers Buses QTIS Maiden Plate (1000m)
1. Wilhelmina (12) – Rebecca Williams
2. Mask Stepenny (11) – Hannah English
3. All One Class (5) – Shaun Bayliss
Time: 0:58.66
Margins: 3/4 Length x 1 Length
Race 3 – Pursers Buses QTIS Maiden Plate (1000m)
1. Colpo Di Tamburo (4) – Ron Goltz
2. Chicoutimi (8) – Jason Hoopert
3. Torquato Tasso (3) – Sally Sweeney
Time: 0:56.95
Margins: 2 1/2 Lengths x 1 1/4 Lengths
Race 4 – McDonalds Kingaroy BenchMark 65 Handicap (1000m)
1. Claragh (1) – Grace Willoughby
2. Canny Excel (7) – Alannah Badger
3. Hopetoun Street (8) – Hannah English
Time: 0:57.58
Margins: Nose x 1 Head
Race 5 – Heritage Nanango BenchMark 50 Handicap (1200m)
1. Canid (3) – Hannah English
2. Lake Argyle (4) – Jason Hoopert
3. Joyfily (11) – Hannah Phillips
Time: 1:10.05
Margins: Nose x 1 Length
Race 6 – IGA Nanango BenchMark 60 Handicap (1600m)
1. Maxwell (5) – Hannah English
2. Walk To The Bar (1) – Ron Goltz
3. Singaraja (6) – Rebecca Williams
Time: 1:35.74
Margins: Short Neck x 1 Head
- View videos all six races on the Nanango Race Club’s YouTube Channel
