General News
30 March, 2025
Racing club reaches half century
Two weeks ago marked the 50th anniversary of the first TAB meeting being held at Warracknabeal Racecourse.
Last week marked the 50th anniversary of the first TAB meeting being held at Warracknabeal Racecourse.
The committee of the then Warracknabeal Turf Club had been applying for that status for many years for its cup meeting.
It was a momentous race meeting on Friday, March 14 1975, as in conjunction with the races, the club opened its newly constructed administration building, completed at the cost of $28,000.
It replaced an old building that had been in the wrong place (in the current mounting yard), blocking the view of the start of 1600-metre races.
This current building is now in need of an upgrade.
The race meeting had seven races, with $6000 in prize money and $500 in trophies, including the $1300 cup prize and a $130 trophy.
Racing has made enormous progress, with next month's Easter Cup meeting preparing to race for about $240,000 and the Emmetts Warracknabeal Cup, which is now worth $50,000.
That TAB meeting 50 years ago generated $310,417 in off-course betting and about $15,000 on course.
Many millions of dollars will be wagered on Easter Saturday, April 19, off course across Australia, such is the popularity of this meeting.
The TAB will be operating on course at the next cup meeting, but its future involvement is unsure at present.
On that first day, the cup was run in a fierce dust storm that blew up at the start of the 1900-metre race.
As the field entered the straight, barrier attendants in the vicinity held their breath as a large cardboard box was blown in front of the horses; luckily, no incident occurred.
The 1975 cup was won by odds-on favourite Cressolgo, trained by Kevin Cluff of Ballarat and ridden by Ian Denney.
Contributed by Lance Huebner.