The 2019 Golden Triangle bush racing carnival has finished with a bang, with a record crowd attending the final leg at Talmoi on Saturday.
About 1400 people flocked to Garah racecourse to enjoy a top day of picnic racing, during what ended up being a beautiful sunny winter's day, despite the chilly start to the morning.
"It was massive, it was a great day, absolutely fantastic," Talmoic Picnic Race Club president Justin Ramsay said.
"That wind well and truly dropped away and it was a fantastic day. We had around 1400 people, which was definitely up by a couple of hundred."
Ramsay attributes the influx of people on the fact it's so dry at the moment - "there's probably not as much to do as there normally would".
"People can come, pay their $20 to get in and can bring their own food and drinks, so it's a cheap day out," he said.
"Hopefully everyone enjoyed our little race day."
READ ALSO:
Horse numbers were also up this year, with 31 acceptances for the six race meeting.
Ramsay said the racing was also good this year, with Garah trainer Campbell Roberts winning the 1400m B&W Rural Warren and Ruth Hunter Memorial Talmoi Cup with Only Choice, while Moree-owned Free Billy trained by Moree's Peter Sinclair won the Chesterfield Helen Boland Memorial Bracelet.
Sinclair had a couple of other wins on the day with Nazare and Brooklyn Beach and won the trainer's bonus.
The Talmoi Picnic Race Club has made a number of improvements to the facilities over the past few years, with the reconstruction of the historic grandstand and implementation of male amd female toilet blocks. The club also hopes to replace the dining and entertainment building.
For this race meeting, the committee made some changes to the layout of the marquees, and put a lot of work into dust control, which paid off.
"We're getting good at making everything work when it's really dry," Ramsay said.
"Last year the dust factor made it a bit uncomfortable."
