Not looking this gift in the mouth

It is as though the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus have come early for the Stanthorpe Jockey Club who last week received the welcome news that Queensland Racing had allocated an additional race date, May 7, to the club.  Club president Chips Brunckhorst said the announcement came as a “bolt from the blue”. Racing throughout Queensland has been disrupted due to the severe weather conditions and with owners and trainers searching for race meetings the club is expecting good fields.  Although the Stanthorpe club has not been directly affected by recent weather events it was forced to cancel the October Stanthorpe Cup race day on the morning of the meeting.
Chairman of Eastern Downs Racing, Graham Rewald was behind the recommendation to allocate the additional meeting to Stanthorpe. Many will see this move as long overdue recognition of the success of the Stanthorpe club who have built their annual meeting to one of the most popular and successful race dates in country Queensland.
Full credit must go to Brunckhorst and his dedicated team who now have less than a month to organise and fine tune the meeting. It will be all hands on deck for the next few weeks but the track is in perfect condition and Chips and his crew are more than up to the challenge. While the normal catered luncheon will not be available, patrons can expect all the usual facilities and entertainment.
“We are hoping local people will bring along a picnic lunch, enjoy a family day, perhaps make it a Mother’s Day treat and enjoy the racing in a real family atmosphere,” Secretary Jill Brunckhorst said.  A total of $24,000 prize money will be distributed over the five race program with nominations closing Tuesday, May 3.