Harness racing spirit shines bright on Ouyen Cup Day

The Mallee farming community of Ouyen, 450 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, has always been grass-roots harness racing – and that spirit will be to the fore again this Sunday (May 11) when the club hosts the Ouyen Pacing Cup.

With a population of around 1000, the Ouyen community sustained around eight to 10 meetings a year until the early 2000s, with an energetic committee and a solid local horse population that included names like Caldow, Patching, Jardine, Munro, Retallick and others.

And while it’s now the only meeting in the Ouyen club’s season, there’s still an unmistakable buzz around Cup Day.

“We are absolutely rapt with the support we’ve received from owners, trainers and drivers from a huge area,” said enthusiastic president Daniel Floyd, who is in his fifth term in the role.

“There’s an excellent field for our Pacing Cup and there’s some strong fields in of the other races and we’ve got eight races programmed.

“A fair bit of work has gone into the track preparation and it’s in great order, so the stage is set for some exciting racing.”

And while the racing around the 769-metre circuit is always competitive, Ouyen Cup Day is also one of the town’s major annual community events.

“The whole town gets behind it – it’s like a community gathering.  The weather’s looking great and the lawn area’s in great shape, so we’re expecting a big crowd again despite it being a really busy time of the year, with cropping on at the moment,” he said.

“The club is all about volunteers, with the exception of a few such as the Clerks of the Course and vet on raceday.  Everyone puts in, and we’re all happy with the way things are going. I’m very lucky to have such a good committee.”

The $12,000 Gregg’s Electrical Ouyen Pacing Cup has attracted some in-form pacers, spear-headed by the Matt Craven pair in Young Bluey and Crime Writer.

Craven, who is based at Ecklin South, near Terang in the state’s western district, 420 kilometres from Ouyen, hasn’t been afraid to travel as he targets suitable country cup events.

Young Bluey (Betting Line) with a never-say-die attitude, was an impressive winner of the recent Barry Bottams Memorial Mildura Pacing Cup, as well as the Mount Gambier Cup in March and the St Arnaud Cup late last year.

Others to have supporters will be Joe Got Rolled (trained by Joe Thompson), Lincoln River (Kerryn Manning), Springfield Affair (Kevin Von Duve) and Credulous (Mick Carbone), as well as Mildura locals in United (Naomi Kerr) and All Da Rage (Andrew German).

“Gregg’s Electrical have been longtime supporters of harness racing so it’s great to see a handy field competing for cup honors. We’ve also got two races in memory of Les Patching and Sam Saunders, who both passionately loved the sport for many years,” Floyd said.

“Our local bookmaker Geoff Hahnel will be fielding on-course for those wanting to have a wager. There will also be market stalls, pony rides and other activities in a fun-filled day,” he said.

Daniel has harness racing in his blood, with his grandfather Harry training horses many years ago.

“He had horses stabled at the back of his house in town and used to drive them down the road to a training track. Alby Adcock (formerly based at Robinvale and now living in Bendigo) used to drive them for him at the races.”

Other sponsors at the cup meeting include Gregg and Sons Steel of Buronga, Northwest Ag, Nutrien Ag, Shaddocks Transport and Poole and Jackson.

For complete race entries, click here.

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink