No shortage of effort from South Burnett Race Club volunteer

By Andrew Smith

Neville O’Toole has been training horses for around 30 years but rather than scoring a winner, he gets the most satisfaction out of seeing a successful race day at the South Burnett Race Club.

The 74-year-old is the latest Racing Queensland Cheer A Volunteer winner.

For around 40 years, the man they call “Shorty” has been involved with the club situated in Wondai in the South Burnett Region.

Since kicking off his training career in the 1992/93 season, he has 52 winners to his name from over 400 starts, the vast majority of those coming on country tracks.

As for the number of roles that Neville takes on around the club, they have definitely not been in short supply.

“I’m just one of the many volunteers but normally I help drag the track and look after the track,” Neville said.

“I’ve done all sorts of things - I’ve been the vice-president, I’ve helped with the barriers, I’ve been a red coat at the races, but the main thing is you’ve got to look after the track, someone’s got to do it.

“I was training horses here, and when I came here Robin Hartwig was training here as well, he was looking after the track and he gave it away and I started doing it and it’s gone on from there.

“It was a bit of a surprise - I didn’t even know I was nominated, but it’s good to get that recognition for a few different things, it helps the volunteers at all the clubs being recognised.”

The septuagenarian only has two horses in his stable, which gives him time to take on the responsibilities that come with maintaining the track.

With the club normally hosting three meetings a year, Neville’s greatest joy comes from seeing a race day run smoothly.

“You get a fair bit of satisfaction out of it yourself - come race day if the track’s racing good, well you think ‘oh well what I’ve done has been fair,’” he said.

“There’s quite a few horses in work here so the track’s got to be maintained and got to be dragged three or four times a week at least and watered.

“A fair bit of time goes into it but at the moment Kym Afford is training here and doing a lot as well at the moment so it’s good.”

Club secretary Lauren O’Neill nominated Neville for the award and said it was a fitting reward for the club veteran.

“Neville has been a member of the South Burnett Race Club forever…he makes sure the track is in safe condition for trainers to be training on,” Lauren said.

“Race day he is there early in the morning to again make sure the track is in perfect condition ready for a full day racing, as well as organising the tie-up stalls.

“Our club would be lost without him, he is a true legend!”

Neville said the increases in prizemoney over the years had helped out the country trainers.

But it was the contribution of volunteers that had made the race days what they are.

“There’s a fair bit of camaraderie for a start with the other people in the club and a lot of banter goes on,” Neville said.

“You have a lot of fun, you have a lot of social interaction and it’s really good if people want to do it, particularly race days you have a good day out and see how it all works.

“The problem we’ve got, is that there’s not that many young ones that are sort of interested now.

“I don’t know why, it just seems to be a problem and I think most clubs would be in the same situation in attracting volunteers.

“The more volunteers you get, the stronger the club.”

As for how long Neville plans to keep maintaining the track, he is hopeful of passing on the skill to the next generation.

“Retirement won’t be too far off I would say - as you get older you get slower and you really need some younger people to come in,” Neville said.

“I want to thank the whole Wondai Race Committee, everyone gets in and really works and the rewards that you get out of it are good, it’s just attracting younger people.

“I’m sort of getting to the end of it but I’d love to see stacks more but it seems to be going the other way, we seem to be getting a smaller and smaller band of hardcore helpers.”

Clubs are encouraged to nominate their valued volunteers for the award, which is sponsored by Neil Mansell Transport & Mittys.

State-wide, there are more than 8,300 volunteers who make an invaluable contribution to the industry, providing their time and expertise to sustain Queensland’s three codes of racing.

Click here for more information on Cheer A Volunteer and to nominate.