The Forbes Camel Races will go on as usual this Good Friday, but there will be one important person missing from the sidelines.
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Founder of the races, Graham Marsh passed away in December 2014, but his legacy will be honoured this year with the inaugural Graham Marsh Memorial Cup.
Born and bred in Forbes, Graham was single-handedly responsible for bringing cameliers to to the area.
While he had never even seen a camel race until a family trip to rural Queensland in 2000, it was there in Blackall that his daughter, Lee Marsh said that the proverbial light bulb lit up.
“He just saw the opportunity, as his brain always did,” she said.
“He saw the races as something different for the town and an opportunity to fundraise for Forbes.
“He talked to the handlers and the next year the camels came to Forbes.”
At that time, camel races were mostly doing the circuit in QLD and had only just made their way to Leeton in NSW.
Forbes became the second town in the state to host camels.
The Forbes Camel Races have now been running for 14 years, and have become the longest standing meeting in NSW.
Lee said that her father was proud to have helped pioneer the sport in NSW.
“Camel racing was his baby,” she said.
“He was very happy with what he achieved, and I think the biggest achievement to him was to get the races going and to have them be so successful.”
Despite the huge success of the races in Forbes, the venture wasn’t without it’s challenges.
In 2005, the drought in QLD caused entrance numbers to wane with many cameliers finding travel and fuel costs too great.
This led to the introduction of appearance money which has ensured strong numbers in Forbes since.
Graham has been honoured for his work over the years, winning the Forbes Australia Day Ambassador award and becoming a life member of the Forbes Camel Race Club in 2011 with Lee.
Just last year before his death, Graham was also given Rotary’s highest honour - the Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
While his absence will be felt this year and for many more to come, Lee said she has no doubt he’ll be watching over the races.
“I just hope we can stand up to his reputation,” she said.
