Rain halts the races, but band plays on at Birchip

The main feature, the iconic Birchip Mallee Bull Pacing Cup, got called off by storms, but that didn’t deter hundreds of racegoers from planning a return trip next year to what’s become a “must do experience” meeting on Victoria’s country Cups circuit.

With a population of just 700, the once-a-year club in northwest Victoria puts months of planning into what is one of Birchip’s major annual events.

But its popularity has spread far and wide and become an iconic “big day out” for many Western Victorian harness racing stables who declare Monday of the Labor Day long weekend a “day off” and camp or stay over to enjoy the “Birchip party”.

“It’s just getting bigger and bigger each year,” said Birchip HRC president Brad Sharp, who estimated the race day crowd at about 1200, the biggest on record since harness racing returned to Birchip in 2017.

“This year for the first time ever we had nine races – too many horses for our stalls!  It was a bit of a juggling act to fit everyone in, but we managed it, then to get six races run and not our cup, it was a bit disappointing,” he said.

“But people love the true country harness racing experience. The 800-metre track, just 13 metres wide, you can practically reach out and touch the horses – it’s the most exciting racing there is around.”

The remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred arrived in Victoria early yesterday afternoon (Mar 9) and forced the early end to racing, despite the Mallee town receiving just a few millimetres of rain, along with some gusty winds, from around 3pm.

“There wasn’t too much rain, it was more to do with the lightning.  The stewards put the three races we had left to run, including the cup, back half an hour, then an hour, but in the end, they just had to pull the pin on it,” Sharp said.

“But we’ve got the music pumping, and I reckon we still have 500 people here in the shed.  There’s plenty here who’ve put a bit of carpet in their float and are camping at a few different places around town.

“I was speaking to (trainer-driver) Mick Bellman earlier, and he reckons it’s just going to keep getting bigger and bigger with harness racing people.  Everyone wants to come and camp at Birchip and kick on for one day a year.”

The connections of the Brent Lilley-trained square gaiter Johns Boy (Simon Roydon) had the most to celebrate, with victory in the $10,000 TMCEnviro Birchip Trotters Cup, just before the storms hit.

The former Kiwi has now won all three of his Australian starts, all in standing start country features – Echuca, Wedderburn and now Birchip.

Johns Boy stepped away cleanly, settling in the one-out one-back position before being sent three-wide in the middle stages by driver Tristan Larsen to work to the lead.  He eventually held on to score by a half-head over Watch And Act (James Herbertson)

It was the seventh win for Johns Boy, who has remarkably for a modern-day trotter, had only one start from a mobile barrier, with 62 out of his 63 lifetime starts all in standing starts.

Harness Racing Victoria is expected to decide in the next few days whether the Sharps Bakery Mallee Bull Pacing Cup can be rescheduled.

For complete race results, click here.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink