Club Spotlight: Wandoan

By Jordan Gerrans 

A breathe of fresh air has gone through the Wandoan Diggers' Race Club over the last year.

Based in the Eastern Downs country racing association of Queensland, Wandoan has not had a permanent horse trainer based at their track for the best part of three decades.

Majella Erbacher has been the secretary at Wandoan for 26 years and says in her time, there has never been a permanent stable at their dirt track.

It has all changed over the last year or so after local horseman and rookie trainer Will Loudon has taken out his licence.

He started his first galloper under his own name in 2020 and so far, has trained three winners with a small team of horses.

While having the Wandoan Diggers' Race Club used on a more permanent basis than just outside of their one race day a year is a positive, the club’s committee think having a trainer in town is helping re-energise the racing industry in the area.

Having Loudon train out of Wandoan is creating more interest in the sport while also bringing more owners into racing.

“Since Will has taken out his licence, my son has a percentage of a racehorse, and so do a number of younger people in the area,” Erbacher explained.

“I think it is a generation thing now, there is a few mates from Taroom who are in horses too.

“It is spilling over into different areas; it is quite good.

“It is nice for all the young fellas to have an interest that.

“It has been a breath of fresh air to have him here training, being a local guy.”

Fellow committee member of Wandoan, Peter Webster, had a trainers licence many moons ago but has not trained in some time due to travel constraints.

The Wandoan Diggers' Race Club share their facilities with the local showgrounds, with many in the local community pleased to also see Loudon training there, making sure the area is often used and populated, instead of sitting idle.

Loudon previously owned plenty of horses, as well as being a regular at a country racetrack.

“I just thought to myself 'why not train a horse and take one too?,” Loudon declared earlier this year. 

“I did not expect to get into training before that, I was just at Longreach racetrack one day and it went from there after thinking about it and speaking to a mate.

“This year has been a bit slow in terms of results but I had a rate of around 45% for my horses running in the top three last year, which was not too bad - it was flying really."

Loudon works as a livestock agent on top of his training commitments and explained that over the summer he, at times, needs to train his horses as early as 3am, such is the heat around Wandoan.

Both Loudon’s grandparents owned horses, while his great grandfather trained out of Longreach decades ago.

“It is rewarding, you get proud of the horses when they go well,” he said.

On top of Loudon’s step into the training arena, Erbacher says the club is gradually moving towards having a younger generation run the committee.

As is the case with many bush clubs in Queensland that race once a year, it is usually families that keep them ticking along.

“Our committee, the older people were it and now their children have taken over," Erbacher said. 

"We have had people who were instrumental for many years, their kids are now involved.

“My dad used to race in Toowoomba and once I was married and came out here, I got involved in the races here too.

“It seems to be a generational thing.”

The club host their once-a-year meeting this Saturday with a five-event non-TAB program, with the Benchmark 60 Handicap Wandoan Cup the feature race to be run over 1200m with $10,000 on offer.

“We have not had a race meeting for about three years because of rain, state of the track and the virus knocking out last year’s meeting,” Loudon said.

While the club only races once a year these days, Erbacher recalls the times when they would host as many as seven race meetings every year.

She estimates the population of Wandoan has decreased by almost a third in her time in the area.

But that has not diminished the love for the racing industry and their annual race day.

“It is an amazing club to be a part of, everyone gets in and does the work, it is great and it is for the betterment of country racing,” she said.

“It is a social day for everyone in our area.

“We have some great sponsors, who want to get behind racing because they understand how important it is in the bush.”

Club spotlight will be a regular feature that shines a light on the unique and individual racing clubs across Queensland.