Ten Years Ago.
Ten years ago the four Rotary clubs met for our race week combined meeting. The Rotary Cup was run and we reported on it as follows;
As usual the meeting concluded with the traditional Rotary Cup run over ten meters. The big stables of Daybreak, East and Warrnambool were again well represented with just a handful of starters from Central. Daybreak and East have dominated this event since its inception and this duopoly looked set to continue this year.
Central had just four entrants. Perennial very fit stayer Les McGrath was again in the mix looking like Central’s only realistic chance. Haysey looked set to back up recent good form although the distance and heavy track didn’t suit him. The Knife has only poor form in this event and looked a bit of a camel. A recent move to trainer Frank McKenzie was the only unknown. Lindsay Monaghan was a bit of a bolter and looked to be outclassed in this field unless his knowledge of pharmaceuticals could be put to use.
In the first heat The Knife unexpectedly saluted the judges. Frank’s liberal use of the jigger looked to have paid off. The second heat saw Les out of the gates quickly only to be bloused unexpectedly by a fast finishing Lindsay Monaghan. The third heat saw Haysey set the early pace only to be donkey licked in the end by a super fit 100 year old woman*.
In the lead up to the final saw a lot of support from punters for the runners from Daybreak and East. The bookies couldn’t lay either of the Warrnambool Central runners with a trowel. However punters left it in the bag as Lindsay jumped out of the ground to win with daylight second. Lindsay later tested positive to cobalt, bicarb, erythropoietin, growth hormone, stimulants, tranquilisers, a bronchodilator and elephant juice. Apparently this was because he ate a steak from New Zealand.
Congratulations to Lindsay for winning the Rotary Racing Cup, the first member of our club to do so.
*Lidia Sinclair – introduced at the start of the meeting as ‘a 100 year old woman’.
