Twin Hills Race Club raring to celebrate 100 years of racing

Cover photo: Jocelyn Omand JLO Photography

By Andrew Smith

A book celebrating the club’s history and a visit from legendary trainer Peter Moody have the Twin Hills Race Club primed for what could possibly be their biggest ever race meeting.

The remote Central Queensland club will celebrate its 100^th anniversary with its annual two-day meeting on Friday and Saturday.

Around 2,000 people are expected to flock to the racetrack, which sits around 140 kilometres from the nearest town, Clermont.

Twin Hills Race Club president Warren Connelly said the finishing touches were being put on the venue after months of preparations to get the track and surrounding area ready for the big two-day event.

“The grounds are nice and tidy, and we've got all the marquee tents up now, and the track is looking really good, we are just dragging it now to get a nice crispy surface,” Connelly said.

“We've had a very kind person donate a water truck, and they are driving and laying water around all the roads to keep all the dust down, which you can imagine a place 134 kilometres from the nearest town that dust is going to be a thing!

“The weather here was quite cool this morning, so we're hoping it'll be nice, and hopefully will be lovely weather for racing.

“The Twin Hills Raceday is the major event in our Shire for people getting together, so it’s good to be able to have the races for the amazing community we have.

“It’s a big thing for the people selling the outfits, the fuel stations, the caterers, whatever you like - it’s wonderful how it all pulls together.”

Thousands of racegoers will camp on the isolated site for the weekend, which also features campdrafting and rodeo competitions.

The meeting reaches its crescendo with the Twin Hills Community Cup on Saturday afternoon.

Leading regional Queensland trainers including John Manzelmann, Shryn Royes and Glenda Bell are among those who will have runners in the 1570 metre race.

Connelly believes the $30,000 in prize money on offer has helped boost interest in this year’s Cup, with the number of nominations continuing to grow every year.

“You’ll see in the fields there’s some quite prominent trainers from the CQ Region so they can come there and have a good time,” Connelly said.

“We have got 60 stalls so the horses can camp overnight in comfort, and when we first got the permit, we only put in for 40 as we thought we might not ever need 60 a few years ago.

“Well, that's been blown out of the water last year and this year - we might have to go again with another 20 next year!

“It’s a good problem to have and we are just really pleased with the quality of fields and there should be some great racing.

 “It’s not easy to win a race though - I've been involved in one winner, and I've been president since 2009 so you’ve got have a reasonable horse to get up there.”

Local Beth Duncan’s book commemorating 100 years of racing at Twin Hills was launched last month, with the long lunch helping to raise funds for this year’s racing.

An appearance from Queensland country boy and Australian Racing Hall of Fame trainer Peter Moody at the lunch also helped to boost interest and funding.

“Peter Moody generously agreed to come up, he was our special guest and it was just fabulous having him here, Connelly said

“All the people - young, old and in between - who had a various involvement with the race club and the races over the years came from far and wide.

“It was hailed a success and we had a bar and a band in the evening too, and the sponsorships on local graziers in the area has helped enormously.

“It’s really good for a non-TAB meeting to get that sort of money together, and it’s certainly above-average prize money for the 10 races on the meeting.”

Long-time volunteer Bart Wilkinson was bestowed with Racing Queensland’s Cheer A Volunteer award in May for his decades of involvement in helping get the track ready for the event every year.

On top of Wilkinson’s efforts, Connelly said the entire club committee should be commended for their hours of dedication to country racing.

Enthusiasm from the younger generation also has the president’s hopes high around the strength of the Twin Hills meeting going forward.

“Community events like this take some pulling together, and our committee is just time, effort and money being put in,” Connelly said.

“Without a strong committee and really good people, it can’t be done, of course, and a lot of people bring their employees along to the working bees and pay them to be there.

“We’ve noticed too over the last few years, the amount of young people coming up to you on the Thursday, Friday or Saturday morning, and asking ‘what can we do?’

“They just come out of the woodwork to help, so it really does your heart good to see younger people acting so responsibly.

“They’ve got that desire to keep such an iconic thing going, and it really is thriving. And it's just so good to see.”

Click here to read more about Bart Wilkinson’s years of service to the Twin Hills Race Club.