Community
28 November, 2024
Dalvui celebrates 75-year milestone
TERANG Harness Racing Club celebrated a historic 75 years since the opening of the Dalvui Raceway last week – reflecting on seven decades of success, and burgeoning optimism the best may be yet to come.
There was 106 people in attendance to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the opening of Dalvui Raceway at a track-side dinner last week, according to Terang Harness Racing Club president Chris O’Connor.
“Our guest speakers included some of the most prominent contributors to harness racing at Terang and their families, including Tony Heffernan, Bruce Clarke, Michael O’Keeffe, Basil Brock and Angela Riggs,” he said.
“They all shared their fond memories, and we also made a presentation to former president Evan Savage, who had been president for 11 years.
“We finished the night off with a talk from Paddy Lee, who is the trainer of Keayang Zahara, she has won all of her starts including recently enjoying a big win over in New Zealand recently.”
Mr O’Connor said it had been a “feel-good night” to reflect on the 75 years which had been, during which time Terang has consistently punched above its weight in terms of the talent which has emerged from the region, and the quality of the racing on show at Dalvui Raceway each year.
“We all got to learn more about the trainers and drivers from over the years,” he said.
“There have also been some sensational horses to race at Terang, including those which have won the cup, so a lot of the names were bandied around with some funny stories from around the track.
“There was even some film shown from when the track was new, back in the early 1950s, which was around five minutes of really good film.
“It was great.”
Mr O’Connor said while the evening was an opportunity to reflect on the historic milestone for the club’s home track, it was also a chance to be progressive in looking forward to the future ahead.
“We touched on our future because we’ve got a really good, young committee who are bringing some great skills, in addition to horses such as Keayang Zahara, who is an absolute gun of a horse – she could be one of the best ever,” he said.
“With harness racing, there’s some concern because the industry is in a bit of a lull at the moment.
“To have such a wonderful horse which is local is putting a lot of enthusiasm around the sport.
“We’ve very, very lucky to have her come along at the right time to give us a bit of prominence – in addition to having stables such as the Lees and the Cravens, great stables, also helps because it keeps you relevant and on the map in the public eye and in the trotting circles.
“It was a wonderful night – we finished up and an hour later everyone was still there, so it tells you they had a good time.”
Harness racing in Terang started in as early as 1895 with the New Years Day races with a two-mile event for trotters.
Trotting events would be held for the next 17 years at Terang Racecourse and throughout the district before the Terang Trotting Club was formally established on March 2, 1912.
The Terang Trotting Club would go on to grow in popularity with more consistent successful meetings, and ultimately became the first club in Victoria to race following WWII, and the first to establish its own racing headquarters.
But the relationship with Terang Race Club began to steadily deteriorate before the club resolved to establish its own track.
Dalvui Raceway, located on a popular training site, was subsequently established in 1949 – with the first race held on February 5 in front of more than 1000 spectators.
In 1954 the track was upgraded to sand, and in 1955 the club held its first night meeting following the club’s effort to become the first exclusively-owned harness racing track to install modern lighting – with the first race under lights attracting between 8000 and 10,000 racegoers.
This year, the club added to its improvements with the official unveiling of $2.2 million in stabling upgrades which have helped the club solidify its position among the premier facilities for harness racing in regional areas.
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