{"id":372799,"date":"2026-06-03T16:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T06:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=372799"},"modified":"2026-06-03T16:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T06:38:20","slug":"wondai-races-cut-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/","title":{"rendered":"Wondai Races Cut Short"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Wondai had been shaping up as a big day for the racing Duffs who entered “Hard Landing” in Race 1 and were looking forward to Race 5 which was the annual “Duff Family Memorial” but it wasn’t to be; Hard Landing finished 5th and Race 5 was abandoned … from left, Stephen Duff, Mayor Kathy Duff and Stella Miller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 2, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wondai’s annual winter race meeting on Saturday was cut short but that didn’t stop all the off-track activities going ahead.<\/p>\n

The Fashions of the Field competitions were hotly contested (see below) and the betting ring was kept busy with punters betting on the Queensland Derby Day meeting at Eagle Farm.<\/p>\n

And, of course, the bar was still open.<\/p>\n

However, an incident in Race 1 caused the remaining four races of the meeting to be abandoned.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, jockey Shakira Bailey was not seriously injured when she fell from her mount near the turn.<\/p>\n

A long inspection of the track by stewards and jockeys then determined the surface was “inconsistent”.<\/p>\n

It had earlier been rated as “soft”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gaye O’Sullivan, Murgon; Jim Sloane, Warana; and Alex Brimblecombe, Wondai, were looking forward to a big day of racing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Liz Hayward, from Wondai, sounded the “Call To Post” on her trumpet ahead of Race 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Jenny and Rod Morgan, from Nanango<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kelly Richards, Hervey Bay; Gai Jackson, River Heads; and Ashlee Forelli, Hervey Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
At back, Brian Jackson, River Heads; and Matthew Kruse, Hervey Bay; front, Greg King, Wondai; and Darren Richards, Hervey Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fashions Of The Field<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The Fashions of the Field competitions went ahead while stewards were inspecting the track.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The theme for the meeting was “Classic Black & White” and it seemed as if just about everyone at the races dressed to this style!<\/p>\n

South Burnett Mayor Kathy Duff also selected a “Paddock Pick”, ie. a best-dressed person who had not paraded in the main competition.<\/p>\n

The Mayor introduced this prize at the Nanango meeting earlier in May.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Best Dressed Girl, Ariat Watkins, 8, from Murgon; with runner-up Lilah Viggers, Mondure … every child entrant also received a bag of lollies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Best Dressed Gentleman runner-up Rod Morgan, Nanango, with winner Kent Hassam, from Bundaberg, who looked very dapper with his walking cane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Best Dress Ladies runner-up Aleisha Roberts, Wondai, and winner Verelle O’Shanesy, from Jandowae<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Best Dressed Couples … runners-up Stella Miller and Stephen Duff, from Gympie, and winners Abby Jones and Kent Hassam, from Bundaberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
South Burnett Mayor Kathy Duff, right, with her “Paddock Pick” Anna Hobbs-Pukallus, from Hervey Bay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Race Results<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Race favourite Ablett (Jess Emmerson) leads the field home in Race 1 at Wondai on Saturday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Race 1 \u2013 Parker’s Plumbing & Gasfit Open Handicap (1100m)
\n<\/strong>1. Ablett (2)\u00a0 \u2013 Jess Emmerson
\n2. Inatick (5) \u2013 Reece O\u2019Connell
\n3. Sutherland (7) \u2013 Kenji Yoshida
\nTime:\u00a0 1:05.86
\nMargins: 3\/4 length x 3\/4 length<\/p>\n

The meeting was abandoned after Race 1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Five-year-old Henry’s Blade (3), trained by Vic Heading, blundered and dislodged its rider approaching the 300 metre mark.<\/p>\n

The gelding suffered a serious leg injury and was euthanased.<\/p>\n

Apprentice jockey Shakira Bailey was assessed by QAS paramedics and cleared of any injury.<\/p>\n

After viewing footage of the incident and noting superficial facial injuries, stewards advised Ms Bailey that she would incur a 12-day stand down, as per the QRIC Concussion Protocol, and would be required to obtain a medical certificate and complete a satisfactory cognitive test prior to her next ride.<\/p>\n

Following the running of the race, stewards and a delegation of senior riders inspected the surface of the track.<\/p>\n

The inspection revealed “inconsistencies” and after concerns were raised by the riding group, the decision was made at 2:30pm to abandon the remainder of the meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wondai’s annual winter race meeting on Saturday was cut short but that didn’t stop all the off-track activities going ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":372809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,58,6],"tags":[1136,26],"yoast_head":"\nWondai Races Cut Short - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wondai's annual winter race meeting on Saturday was cut short but that didn't stop all the off-track activities going ahead.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wondai Races Cut Short - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wondai's annual winter race meeting on Saturday was cut short but that didn't stop all the off-track activities going ahead.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T06:32:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T06:38:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260430races01.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/\",\"name\":\"Wondai Races Cut Short - southburnett.com.au\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T06:32:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-03T06:38:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\"},\"description\":\"Wondai's annual winter race meeting on Saturday was cut short but that didn't stop all the off-track activities going ahead.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/\",\"name\":\"southburnett.com.au\",\"description\":\"Kingaroy and South Burnett News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\",\"name\":\"Anne Miller\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wondai Races Cut Short - southburnett.com.au","description":"Wondai's annual winter race meeting on Saturday was cut short but that didn't stop all the off-track activities going ahead.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wondai Races Cut Short - southburnett.com.au","og_description":"Wondai's annual winter race meeting on Saturday was cut short but that didn't stop all the off-track activities going ahead.","og_url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/","og_site_name":"southburnett.com.au","article_published_time":"2026-06-03T06:32:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-03T06:38:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":460,"url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260430races01.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Miller","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/","name":"Wondai Races Cut Short - southburnett.com.au","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-06-03T06:32:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-03T06:38:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae"},"description":"Wondai's annual winter race meeting on Saturday was cut short but that didn't stop all the off-track activities going ahead.","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/06\/03\/wondai-races-cut-short\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/","name":"southburnett.com.au","description":"Kingaroy and South Burnett News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae","name":"Anne Miller","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372799"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372799"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372817,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372799\/revisions\/372817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}