Fond memories of a bygone era at the “picnics”

Stalwarts of one of Victoria’s last active “picnic” harness racing clubs have gathered to celebrate 50 years of operation.

The days of restricted or “picnic” meetings are now only a fond memory, and the Robinvale Trotting Club, in far northwest Victoria now operates only as a training facility, but that didn’t deter more than 30 guests travelling from as far away as Bendigo to mark the club’s milestone.

“I was only 24 when we got going and I was the inaugural secretary,” said club stalwart Mick Rhoden, who has served continuously in various roles ever since.

“The 12-acre site we are on was originally the football ground, and there was a little trotting track down at one corner, so we started there. Once they built a new footy ground near the river in 1965, that’s when we got the current track and things really started to happen with getting races and meetings.”

The 718-metre track hosted its last Robinvale Pacing Cup in 2005, with the club’s meeting relocated to Mildura at that time. Three years ago, the club finally lost its cup meeting altogether.

“It was tough for a lot of people when that happened, but the deal did let us have funding to keep the Robinvale track going as a training facility, and that’s really what the key is now. It’s enough for us to keep the water up, and the weeds down and the track in reasonable order,” Rhoden said.

“There are five trainers in the Robinvale region, and three still with horses in work and they need the track to be able to stay in the sport.”

Rhoden said in its heyday, Robinvale hosted up to six non-TAB meetings a year.

“We had some huge community days, fundraiser days for the hospital and so on. Our cups in the early days were run in conjunction with the greyhounds, who were here at the track too,” he said.

“They would be great community events with big crowds. In the 1990s, there were 16 harness racing trainers based here at Robinvale, which seems unbelievable to think about now.

“We also had our share of very handy horses over the years. Again, back in that 1990s era, Lord Muckalee, who was locally-owned, won an Inter Dominion heat (in 1992). Lord Muckalee had his first start and his first win here at Robinvale before he went on to bigger and better things.

“Franco Tiger was another one that was locally owned, and that same year, in 1992, he ran second in the Inter Dominion final. So we’ve had connections with some very handy horses.”

Rhoden was one of the eight surviving life members who joined in the celebrations at Robinvale last week, with a lunch and a gathering at the Robinvale HRC clubrooms.

“We shared a lot of memories, especially about the Cup meetings. We knew that 2005 was likely to be the last on our track, so we had a great day. There was a terrific crowd and pony trotters and trainers came from all over the place to be there. Compulsory Gee won the last race, and he was trained by the late Rob Mortlock from Maryborough.”

Rhoden said his own journey in harness racing began as a boy, when his dad would listen to the Mildura trots on the local commercial radio station.

“Dad had an interest, but I wouldn’t have called him a trotting person. I can still recall the sound that came through the radio when he had it on – I was captivated, and I just had to go to the trots,” he said.

“I learnt about working the horses and driving with local trainer Alby Adcock, and in 1964 I went to Melbourne for training with Australia Post where I worked, and for 16 months I went to the trots at the Showgrounds every week. I never missed,” he said.

“It got me, and it got me forever. I could sometimes stop loving the industry, but I couldn’t ever stop loving the standardbred.

“There have been a lot of special moments over the years – Ronzel Bantam won my first race ever at Robinvale after 20-years of paying up for slow ones. Ronzel Grinner won a $10,000 race on a Mildura pacing cup night and won by 10 metres, which was a great thrill. I’d love to one day win a Mildura Pacing Cup.

“But it’s not about me, it’s about the sport and the club. I’ve organised a lot of things over a lot of time and asked a lot of people to do a lot of things. And the one thing I’d really like to say is a thanks to all the people who said ‘yes – I can do that to help out’. They’re the ones who helped us make all the good things happen that we achieved as a club.”

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink