Forbes’ annual spring race meeting may have been washed out because of the floods but, like the Forbes community, they’ll be back bigger and better than ever.
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The Forbes Spring Races have been rescheduled and rebranded and will now be held Saturday, November 19.
The races were to be on Saturday, October 8 but flood waters affecting the showground and the racetrack meant the meeting could not go ahead.
The meeting will be called the Spring Flood Recovery Cup and the Forbes Jockey Club will have an array of activities on hand to help the community recover from the floods.
“The aim of the flood recovery cup is to provide a chance for the locals to come together after an extremely difficult time and celebrate the resilience of our community,” said Forbes Jockey Club secretary Blake Nicholson.
The races will feature an array of entertainment and fun events for the family.
Footraces will be replaced by a sandbag challenge, where participants will be challenged to ferry as many sandbags as possible in two minutes.
Fashions on the field will have a new category of best flood outfit with extra points awarded for water or nautical themed clothing.
Extra points will also be awarded for clothing that contains flood water brown.
Races will be named in flood themes with the main race being the Bankstown Sports Swamp Rat Flood Cup.
Other races will include Mandagery Creek Mile (named for the Eugowra creek that feeds the Lachlan River), the Southern Cross Sprint (named for the area east of Forbes that feeds major floods), the Iron Bridge Handicap (named for the spot where river levels are managed) and the Roads Closed Handicap (named for transport difficulties) and the Farmers’ Flood Maiden (named for the fact the flood have disproportionally affected our primary producers).
A significant donation will also be made to the Lions Club disaster relief fund in recognition of the work they have done to assist the Forbes community.
“The meeting doesn’t aim to take itself too seriously and it’s supposed to be a day of fun,” Mr Nicholson said.
“However it’s not all fun and frivolity and we do acknowledge that many people have lost their income and one person lost their life.”
Marquee bookings for the day are available, phone 0439 911 052 to find out more or secure your place.
