Capricorn Park

I think many of us have driven past Capricorn Park over the years on the way to and from Murrumbateman or Yass and wondered what it was like inside the gates.  This month we got to find out.

Rob Potter is now training horses at Capricorn Park and offered to show us around.

We turned up at 9:30am and started with bubbles, of course, while we caught up with our friends.  Rob gave us a brief history of the Park, and described the facilities.

After the talk, we headed off for a walk around the Park.  We had a leisurely walk around until we found ourselves about 1km down the 1300m straight track.  With the track heading off into the distance, we realised that once we got to the other end we'd just have to turn around and walk all the way back, so we decided to just turn around and head back.  By that time, most people had also drained their wine glasses, so they were anxious for a refill.  While everyone was dithering around, a few horses started trotting down the track, so there was a scramble for everyone to get onto the other side of the safety fence.

Eventually, we wandered back to the gardens where we had set up the BBQ.  On the way, some of us walked over to the 9-hole golf course on the property that was just waiting for somebody to tee-off.  But it was empty.

We had a guessing competition while we were waiting for lunch.  Rob brought out a horse whose weight we had to guess.  Surprisingly, Cathy Hart, a recent member of Women in Racing, estimated the weight exactly.  We also had a wine tasting from Robert Oatley Wines, courtesy of Vic Cowlishaw, one of our WiR members.

Rob took us for a wander through the extensive facilities in Capricorn Park.  We were surprised to see the large number of empty stalls and unused training equipment such as horse walkers and swimming pool.   It was clear that the Park can hold many more horses than the 10 or 12 there currently.

After the wander, we enjoyed a great BBQ cooked by Gerd and Burl, with plenty of rolls and salad for self-made hamburgers.

The weather was great all day, and we all enjoyed the outing.

A slideshow is below.  If you can't see it, click here.
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Black Opal & Racing Hall of Fame Dinner

This year the running of the Black Opal coincided with the Racing Hall of Fame dinner.  So it was also a tiring day - with the formal dinner following on only a few hours after the races finished for the day.  Just enough time to get home, changed, and then back out of the house again.

For those interested in fashions, the slideshow below shows a few photos of the Myer Fashions on the Field competition followed by more from the Hall of Fame dinner.

The dinner was held at the National Gallery in the Parliamentary Triangle.  It started with drinks outside where we met up with each other and tried to get photographed by the press photographers.  While some of us were magnets for the media, unfortunately their editors were a bit blind, so they didn't include us in their publications.

Dinner was in a big function room, with large screens at both the back and the front of the room so that everyone was able to see the presentations on the stage and the audio-visual presentations that accompanied them.  There were several trainers inducted into the Hall of Fame, and some horses, trainers, owners, and racecallers.

When famous racehorse Subzero was announced, to everyone's surprise Subzero was paraded into the courtyard outside. Many rushed outside to have their photos taken with the horse.  This was difficult unless you pushed Karyn away from it first.  Unfortunately they also didn't cover any of this in the television coverage.

We had a very pleasant 3 course meal with plenty of wine all round.  Except for us "designated drivers", of course.


A great time was had by all, with everything over by about 11 pm.

If you can't see the slideshow below, click here.
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