Amajorjo (No.9) with Matt Craven at the controls, looms up on the outside to take the lead in the Rachael McGrath/Gration Memorial at Laidlaw Park on Tuesday. More on the New Year's Day racing in Tuesday's edition. Picture: MARCUS MARROW
STAWELL - Stawell Harness Racing Club was thrilled with the turn out on New Year's Day for its Colts, Fillies and Flicks Race Day.
An estimated 1000 plus people attended the day to watch the six races on offer and then stayed on to watch the movie on the big screen.
Officials said the crowd during the afternoon was fantastic, taking advantage of the free entry and the bonus of betting vouchers for adults.
Children were well catered for with free sausages and popcorn during the screening of the movie.
Stawell Harness Racing Club would like to thank the McGrath and Gration families, with the feature Rachael McGrath/Gration Memorial Race held in memory of Rachael Gration, who lost her battle with cancer.
The race was taken out by Amajorjo, who has won his last five starts. The smart four year old is trained by David Lewis and was driven by Matt Craven, going to the line to win by a head.
Amajorjo is a horse with a big future and Rachael's family was thrilled to see a horse of such ability contest and win the race.
Barry Dunn from Horsham was the only local trainer to win a race, taking out the Grampians Ulysses Club Pace with Wipethesmile.
Stawell Harness Racing Club president Geoff Sanderson said the club is keen to establish this race meeting as an annual New Year race meeting.
"The movie was a big hit and we will be looking to do this again in the same form," Mr Sanderson said.
"We would like to thank the Stawell community for supporting this race meeting and making it the success it was."
