In a photo finish final at Bulloo Park, Quilpie, Charleville’s Danny Vetter and his horse, Little Man took out the 2018 Santos Pride of the West for the third year in a row.
In doing so he claimed the biggest prize ever, $5000, for the event.
Entries were down due to drought but horses came from as far as Banana to compete in the 250 metre stock horse sprints.
It was a standalone event this year, rather than combined with cutting, once again due to drought.
In an attempt to summon the weather gods, the Quilpie Diggers’ Race Club had titled the event The Drought Buster, but the day saw a good crowd of racegoers enjoying the day in sunny spring conditions at the culmination of a big month for the community, following their annual show and the local school centenary.
The Family Fashions of the Field was a popular item on the program with the Tully-Cross family taking the main prize while RNA rural ambassador, Brooke Cuddihy, from Maclagan won the Lady of the Day award.
Quilpie Diggers’ Race Club president, Sam Bartlett said that given the conditions, the Pride of the West was once again a positive addition to the club’s event calendar.
The running of the inaugural Quilpie Cottonseed Classic footraces, where runners were handicapped with bags of cottonseed, was a light-hearted take on the reality of the daily grind of stock feeding in the drought.
Even in the worst of times, the successful running of another Pride of West showed that rural communities like Quilpie remain resilient, Sam said.
