Club Spotlight: Ilfracombe

By Jordan Gerrans

When one of the Central West’s greatest racing exports produced a live chance for the famous Stradbroke Handicap earlier this year, the tiny town of Ilfracombe was abuzz with racing excitement.

Based just south-east of Longreach, Ilfracombe boasts a population of just over 250 people and leading into Queensland’s biggest race earlier in 2021, those in the bush town had a reason to believe one of them was about to claim the big Group 1.

After growing up around horses in the regional centre, Desleigh Forster has worked her way up to a trainer at Eagle Farm that has a stable of horses that is competitive with the best of the best from around Australia.

Forster’s tough sprinter Apache Chase was the Stradbroke fancy, starting well in the market at $6.50, and while he finished almost four lengths behind the winner – everyone back home was still proud of the girl from the Central West.

Long-time Muttaburra trainer Rodney Little, who relocated to Ilfracombe just under a decade ago, remembers there being a buzz in the area leading towards the Stradbroke Handicap in June of this year.

“It brings a good interest in to it, hey, people that are not really into racing much, it gets them interested,” Little said.

“More people are following the horses and trainers from here now.

“People get a kick out of it.

“People know her and when something like that happens down in the big time in Brisbane, it gets more people interested in the sport and gets more people keen on racing.”

As a club that only races once a year, usually, there is only a few stables based at Ilfracombe, one of those being Desleigh’s father – Henry.

Henry has been training for over 30 years in the bush and still going strong, starting five gallopers last Saturday at Barcaldine’s big TAB meeting and is sure to have a strong representation on his home track this week.

Ilfracombe Picnic Race Club President Wesley Irwin, who previously trained his own team of horses, says Henry has a glass half full approach when he approaches his gallopers.

“He has had some very good horses,” Irwin said.

“He would always say to me, about a horse, they all have four legs and a heartbeat, he would pick up a horse that is not running that great and he would try work out what was special about them.

“They are all different, some of them you swim them, and then he would always seem to get a winner or two out of them.”

Where Desleigh cut her teeth in the racing industry, it teaches and develops an extreme work ethic, on top of being a horse person, before ever being a trainer or a jockey.

“I come from a family that had to work to get where we are now, it has not been handed to me on a platter,” Desleigh reflected earlier this year when speaking to Racing Queensland.

“I have worked very hard coming from the country, you have to do those hard yards in the country.”

“From day dot, I have always been around horses; that is all I did, but I did not get into racehorses until I was 16.

“It was a very good grounding staying in the country.

“You do not take things for granted, I have been very lucky since I moved down here and started training, always having decent horses.

“In this industry, you do not take anything for granted.”

Ilfracombe was one of the lucky clubs in the area who picked up an extra race meeting this year following the cancellation of the 2021 Simpson Desert Racing Carnival (Betoota, Birdsville and Bedourie).

As usually a once a year club, they raced in July of this year and will back up just a few short months later this Saturday.

President Irwin, who also is the secretary of the Central West Country Racing Association of Queensland, jumped at the chance to give his club an extra race day, declaring their track was in good shape and ready to race again.

Like the Forsters, Irwin comes from a racing family through the generations, his grandfather training – with his mother riding the track work – and he trained his first winner back in 2005.

He has taken a break of training in recent years, however.

Irwin is a “racing lifer”, previously on the committee at Jundah’s racing club, before moving to Ilfracombe in 2005 and has been involved with the Ilfracombe Picnic Race Club since.

“We only race once a year usually, except this year as we jagged a second,” Irwin said.

“Our last race day, we pulled in 700 people for the day, which is a big result.

“It is one of the bigger meetings in the west that is well attended.”

According to the club’s president, live music is a key part of the racing experience at Ilfracombe following the last race on the card.

Veteran horseman Little, who also raced a big team of horses at Barcaldine last Saturday, thinks his gallopers enjoy the secluded nature of training at Ilfracombe.

“It is a good place, nice and quiet, so horses relax out here with no hustle and bustle or anything like that,” Little said.

“It is a good area to train at.

“We would love a water hole here to walk our horses in, I am trying desperately to organise one so hopefully we can get one soon enough.”

Racing on a dirt surface, Ilfracombe’s facilities have gone through a number of upgrades in recent years, including a new judges tower, an upgraded secretary’s office, a new jockeys room while the club’s committee are hopeful of improving the black soil track in the coming years.

They club will run six non-TAB races this Saturday. 

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