News
Festival a Roaring Success
Under sunny skies, a crowd of some 3,000 harness enthusiasts and families packed Parklands to witness a great day of racing and family entertainment.Parklands looked a picture. The new gazebos housing the stud representatives along the running rail offset the stallions perfectly. The signage of the Studs was vibrant and painted a truly professional picture.
Further along the complex, the various stands housing industry businesses and country markets were perfectly located in front of the main Grandstand. BOTRA's deep purple brand was radiant under the blue skies, as seen here with two of Sandra Manning's volunteer team. Families who chose to picnic in the park from their cars on the grassy hills were able to watch the day's spectacle in a relaxed fashion.
It was also great to see the many hundreds of kids and their parents enjoying the rides and other entertainment.The highlight of the day was the Stallion Parade. Some 17 stallions paraded representing 9 Studs. Also on hand was 3-times Interdominion winner Blacks a Fake to head the Parade. It was a classic parade of the best stallion flesh in Queensland and it was not surprising that the Studs did strong business signing up clients for stallion services. Left by Colada, Enrique and Rollon Bigred proved very popular with buyers.
Artistic from Cold Mountain Stud was judged the best paraded stallion and Margaret Donohoe, Stud Master at Monarch Farm, won the best presented handler. Margaret looked stunning in her red and black.The racing was action-packed with Eden Miss trained by Darryl Graham for Cold Mountain Stud winning the Kristine Macdermott Memorial Cup, whilst Destreos trained and driven by Ken Rattray won the inaugural BOTRA Cup.
The most popular events were the Dash for Cash, won by Aussie Patch for Scott Neaves, and the chariot races. It's been a long time since patrons jostled along the fence to view these and other events. The atmosphere was electric as patrons supported their chosen horses.
Importantly, the tote turnover was excellent, topping many a Friday night's turnover. This was an especially pleasing result as betting on the races started in the mid-morning which is traditionally not a well-supported time by punters.
Not a tote event but nevertheless another very popular event – because BOTRA sees these inspiring mini trotter drivers as our future.
BOTRA would like to especially thank David Fowler and Jim Jacques for their impeccable hosting of the day's activities. They worked tirelessly all day and their presentation of the Festival was outstanding. BOTRA will be staging the Festival again next year and we hope to make it a bigger and better event.
