Queen Of Spades wins the John Shannon Memorial Race. Photo / Dave Murdoch
Race day at Woodville-Pahīatua Racing Club included a special memorial race named after John Shannon.
A stalwart of the club for 40 years, John had passed just a week before, and club president Andrew Bolton paid tribute to John’s support over the years.
John would have loved the finish in his race - Queen of Spades winning by half a neck. Trainer Roydon Bergersen of Awapuni had three winners on the day.
Race day on October 20 turned out warm, and despite a deluge of rain two days before which cast doubt on whether it could be run, the turf had dried out enough to be judged “a soft six”.
The club had to swing into action quickly to put on the race day so soon after the last one, but it was a swap with the Waverley Racing Club and it worked out fine.
There were very good fields averaging 12 horses over eight races and few scratchings.
Racing was very close, with photo finishes which had the crowd cheering their favourites on in several instances, while others were foregone conclusions almost from the turn, exemplified by Super Wraith in the fifth.
All in all, the race day was enjoyable and the club should be congratulated for running a well-organised event.
Dave Murdoch is a part-time photojournalist working for the Bush Telegraph and based at Dannevirke. He has covered any community story regaling good news about the district for the last 10 years.
The Astill's 22-seater bus to Hastings already has 19 students booked for the ride.