Sport
17 September, 2025
Racing wrap: Cloncurry winners, dodgy scheduling, club positives
A look at some of the talking points in the North West racing scene.
The punters managed to get the upper hand over bookmakers at Cloncurry on Saturday as a handful of well-backed commodities got the chocolates in front of a good crowd at Schumacher Park.
Cloncurry trainer Terry Hall got locals off to a good start when the $1.80 favourite and aptly-named Curry Legend produced an easy win for jockey Nor Yadi in the Benchmark 50 Handicap (1000m).
Richmond trainer Shryn Royes and jockey Tessa Townsend then combined with Basque ($3) in the next, another Benchmark 50 over 1000m.
Jason Hoopert then rode the winner of Race 3 – the well-backed Infinite Prince ($2.80) – for Mount Isa trainer Emma Morton.
After appearing to “get on the wrong leg” at Birdsville, Infinite Prince looked more comfortable racing in the clockwise direction at Cloncurry and bolted in to win by almost four lengths in the 0-50 Handicap (1400m).
The only upset on the day was the win of Bute Moves ($12) for Kim and Shane McGovern in the Benchmark 55 Handicap (1200m).
Ilfracombe trainer Henry Forster made sure the long trip was worthwhile when he combined with former Cloncurry jockey John Rudd to win the Class B Handicap (1200m) with Wayfarer’s Way ($5).
And no North West meeting would be complete without a Tanya Parry winner.
The Julia Creek trainer picked up the last with apprentice Brea Harrison, who got the chocolates on rising star Santorini Sun ($1.60) after it was smashed in the betting ring.
With just 52kg on her back after the claim, the seven-year-old mare was an impressive winner of the Open Handicap (1200m), beating Metal Bar, who looked to be back to his best.
Racing in the North West will be staged at Winton this Saturday, with big noms for the club's Cup meeting, which coincides with the community's 150th anniversary.
Scheduling debacle in the bush
The state government-commissioned review into racing in Queensland can’t be released quickly enough. Surely the first big dot point should be the incompetence at Racing Queensland headquarters in Deagon.
Does anyone in the south-east know anything about racing in the country? The bloke in charge of scheduling, aka The Hornet, certainly doesn’t.
Next week’s programming is perhaps the worst I have seen in the bush, outside of past Melbourne Cup days, when every single club in Queensland once wanted to race.
There are 10, yes, T-E-N meetings programmed for Saturday, September 27 and we’re going to struggle for horses and jockeys at a few of them.
Mount Isa’s traditional Spring Cup meeting – perhaps the club’s second biggest day of the year – will not only have to compete with Longreach for participants, but finding jockeys from other parts of North Queensland will be a struggle.
The two-day Ewan and Twin Hills carnivals go head-to-head once again, while Atherton is mysteriously racing on the same day.
St George has picked up a meeting it traditionally didn’t have, while there is also racing at Mackay and Taroom.
Sources told North West Weekly that an eleventh meeting was also originally scheduled for that day, at Gladstone, but David Weinert, the president of the Gladstone Turf Club showed initiative (that's not a word in the RQ vocabulary) and moved it away to avoid a clash.
While many of these meetings are hundreds of kilometres apart, the boffins in Deagon have once again shown a real lack of understanding of country racing demographics and where the horses and jockeys travel from to sustain this meeting.
Mount Isa, being the furthest away, will be the one to suffer the most.
At one point, race club president Jay Morris was looking at bringing in jockeys from Alice Springs, such was the struggle to get available hoops for the showcase program.
Twin Hills is also offering $1000 to every jockey who rides on the Saturday of its two-day meeting, however, it has put no caveat on the number of rides a jockey is booked for.
We are likely to see at least one North West jockey attend Twin Hills and pick up an easy $1000 without a full book of rides, while we struggle to get more than a handful of riders at Buchanan Park on what is a day with two qualifying races for the Country Stampede and Country Cups Challenge.
One jockey who is stepping up is Jason Hoopert, who has ridden part-time this year as he prioritises his work after a nasty fall last year.
“Hoops” is expected to take on five rides on Spring Cup Day.
Positives for Mount Isa Race Club
In more positive news for the Mount Isa Race Club, a major sponsorship deal has been reached with corporate bookmaker Sportsbet.
It follows recent announcements that Sportsbet is partnering with Bundaberg, Nanango, Longreach and Mareeba racing clubs.
“Racing is the lifeblood of rural and regional communities across Australia,” said Sportsbet’s Damian Ryan.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Mount Isa Race Club. Sportsbet is committed to a long and sustainable future for Queensland racing and the communities that support it.”
Mount Isa Race Club president Jay Morris said the partnership was a win-win.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Sportsbet and bring a new level of energy and exposure to racing in rural and regional Queensland,” he said.
“This support is vital for our club and will mean a lot to the wider Mount Isa community which has a proud history of racing.”
“There are plenty of challenges facing racing clubs and we have been no exception.”
“To be able to get this level of support from Sportsbet is a major boost for racing in our area and we’re excited to welcome new and old race fans with a fresh look and renewed momentum.”
Casual punters who haven’t been sighted at Buchanan Park since Cup day will notice a new piece of infrastructure on Spring Cup day.
The Mount Isa Race Club is home to a brand-new broadcast and judges’ tower.
The new tower, which sits adjacent to the finishing line, now accommodates the race caller, the primary television camera, as well as judges, in the one facility, with much improved visibility of the track.
The $427,000 tower was funded through Round 2 of the Country Club Asset Funding program.
The tower was fabricated and installed by Veldon Group in collaboration with several local contractors.
The tower installation is one of 41 projects at 36 country thoroughbred racing clubs across the State that received $3 million worth of infrastructure grants through the second round of the CCAF program.
Racing Minister Tim Mander said the new tower was an important upgrade for the North West-based club.
"Country racing is the lifeblood of the industry across the Sunshine State, and we are pleased to see this new tower delivered at Mount Isa,” he said.
“More than 80 of Queensland’s 119 racing clubs are in communities where a race meeting is the biggest or second biggest annual event, signifying the vital importance of our investment in these asset and maintenance projects.
“Racing also helps to support almost 15,000 jobs across the state, and the Country Club Asset Funding program ensures that employment is sustained in the industry.”
Morris said the project was a much-needed boost for the club, which hosts 15 meetings every year.
“The last tower we had, the vantage point wasn’t as high and the judges and the race caller were side-by-side, so it wasn’t ideal,” the club president said.
“The new installation is brand-new and air-conditioned…we called out of it at our last meeting (August 23) and the judges are very happy with it.
“I want to say thanks to Racing Queensland who did a good job in coordinating everything, and thanks to the local contractors.”