Ewan Amateurs celebrates 100 years of horseracing

There is no question however that the success of the much loved Ewan Amateur Turf Club Race Meeting at Stockyard Creek on the Gregory Highway 140 km north west of Townsville is in no small part due to the strong backs and blood, sweat and tears of a dedicated cohort of local cattle men and women from the stations around.

The Birdsville Races of the north, as some like to call them, have been a local institution for 100 years and have been run almost uninterrupted ever since the original track was laid on Zig Zag Station by local pastoralists keen for a distraction from the daily grind.

The hosting of this annual country race meeting has been a true passion project that only hardy Brahman and Droughtmaster breeders with a love for the thunder of hooves down a dirt track and the joys of a cold beer and hot bet could have kept alive through ten decades of drought, flood, fire, war, depression and the tyranny of distance.

In the early days it was not uncommon for the entertainment starved families and staff who lived and worked on the remote cattle stations surrounding the racetrack to walk their horses for over four days to the race meeting, only to have to turn around and do the same on the homeward journey.

Nor was it unusual for some volunteer committee members to drive to the riverbank and strip off to cross the Burdekin River in full flood, and then go on to Ewan to attend a committee meeting.

These days however the trip to the Ewan racetrack, now located on land donated by the owners of prominent regional cattle property Spyglass Station, is a little more comfortable.

If the hordes of smartly dressed young race goers from Townsville, Charters Towers and surrounding towns and cattle stations who descended on the racetrack for three days of camping, carousing and post-COVID celebration in late September this year are anything to go by, the future of this particular country race club looks very bright indeed.

Speaking to 12-year committee veteran, current club vice president and local Brahman-Droughtmaster cross cattle producer Stacey Kirkwood about the club's proud history and future plans, it is plain to see she is one of those no nonsense beef industry stalwarts who, like their hardy, resilient and adaptable stock, thrive in the heat, dust and isolation of the north west.

With a true family friendly, no-frills and lots of thrills focus, this is a unique bucket list experience that brings all ages and wages, big city addresses and smart country dresses together in a blaze of silk, fascinators, swags and serious bar tabs.

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With plans to develop the racetrack facility to cope with the resurgence of interest in country race meetings that appears to be a post-COVID pandemic positive, the club committee members spend many days in the lead up to the race meet each year preparing the campgrounds, amenities and track.

Over 5000 race goes over two days made the trek this year and with a large percentage under 18, one can safely assume that another generation is waiting in the wings to step up when the current club management prepares to pass on the baton.

Like a long line of 4WD and camper van hornets moving in slow motion, this swarm of locals, repeat visitors and Ewan greenhorns settled into tribal and long held favorite camping spots and pulled out BBQs, bundy rum, bad shirts, blue biros and best bets, all ready for a long 'Doin Ewan' weekend.

This year's event also marked a significant milestone in the history of the club as it clocked up its 100 year centenary.

For a club that, prior to 2015 only raced grass-fed horses and became the last club in Queensland to switch to corn fed, it punches well above its weight in terms of country race meetings, with this year's meet given Country Cup Challenge qualifier status, and the Saturday race day also awarded full TAB status.

The Ewan experience is so much more than a horse race, it's really about family, fun, friendship and informality and a place to immerse yourself just for a few lost days in the history and heritage of our pioneer past.

All thanks to those local beef producers who know that it's not all work and that everyone needs a bit of play at the end of the day.