The Victorian Seniors’ free train travel program provides over 60s with four free train vouchers per calendar year for travel anywhere in the State.
In our current post-COVID setting with travel at last being unrestricted again, your author was challenged in a recent casual conversation to discover the maximum number of kilometres possible for travel under this program to country race meetings without visiting the same destination twice.
“You might get 2,000 kilometres. You couldn’t possibly get 3,000 without going to Mildura twice – and you can’t do that under the guidelines anyway,” advises the sagacious Macca, my occasional North Fitzroy Arms Hotel lunch companion.
Can’t do 3,000 kilometres eh? Challenge accepted!
And so it came to pass, The Great 2022 Free Train Travel Challenge kicked off last weekend with the Bairnsdale Cup.
The Challenge begins.
Geelong to Bairnsdale via Melbourne is a five hour train trip over 354 kilometres. Consequently, not only are a compass and a cut lunch mandatory requisites, but also a cushion and a good book are highly recommended.
A cushion and a good book.
For someone who has spent most of his life in western and northern Victoria, Gippsland has always been something of a mystery to me so I am on a steep learning curve with this first train voucher.
I soon discover Gippsland is not an altogether homogenous creature. East of the outer suburban sprawl we pass through several smaller townships before arriving at the first of two larger population centres of Drouin (Ablett country), population 12,000, followed by Warragul, population 14,000.
I don’t fully understand the scattered, unconnected images of the people and places I see or what they mean. I don’t know their stories but I know that life must be pulsing vibrantly under their anonymity nonetheless.
I recall Jimmy Webb’s evocative line “though the wheat fields and the clothes lines and the junkyards and the highways come between us”. I reckon he must have surely thought of that line on a train.
Further east we see the LaTrobe Valley open cut with the large electricity smelters in the background to our north. I can’t but help wonder what employment opportunities, if any, are going to await those local folk made redundant as Victoria’s energy sources inevitably change in the coming years.
The next five stops of Trafalgar, Moe, Traralgon, Morwell and Sale boast a combined population of over 65,000 people. No small wonder the LaTrobe Valley footy league has been such a powerhouse in Victorian country football circles for so many decades.
As the train snakes its way east of Sale the now verdant landscape tells me the last 12 months have seen above average rainfall while the many herds of Friesian cows tell the old farm boy in me this is dairy country – big time.
An hour east of Sale and I reach my destination.
Welcome to Bairnsdale on the Mitchell River; population 17,468; mean average age 44; federal electorate of Gippsland, a Federation seat held by the Nationals continuously since their formation as the Country Party in 1922; four pubs and the usual assortment of ethnic cuisines – you would be a very fussy eater if you went hungry; two major employers – Bairnsdale Regional Health Service (900 employees) and Patties Pies Ltd (500 employees).
Unsurprisingly, the latter is the major sponsor of the Bairnsdale Racing Club. Curiously enough though, when I ask for a pie for lunch on track I am given a Four’N Twenty. Go figure.
Dr Google tells me St Mary’s Catholic Church is Australia’s answer to the Sistine Chapel. It is famous for its many murals on the walls and ceiling and is apparently worth a visit. So I do – but only after a good night’s sleep.
Sunday morning 27 March dawns and it’s an absolute belter of a day for Bairnsdale Cup. Clear, sunny blue skies with a forecast maximum of 26. Last day of summer perhaps?
The TAC courtesy coach doesn’t leave for the track until 11.30am so I have time to attend Mass and scour the readings of the fourth Sunday in Lent for omen tips. Sadly, they seem to be well camouflaged, especially as I subsequently learn Apostle Pete is a scratching in the third race.
Searching for omen tips.
The murals at St Mary’s are quite a story though. A young Francesco Floreani studied painting at the Academy of the Arts in Turin before arriving in Gippsland in 1927 to try his luck picking peas. I mean, as you do.
When work became scarce during the 1930 depression he approached the local parish priest to help him find employment. When the priest learnt of Floreani’s skills, he asked him to paint the inside of the church, a job the latter approached with great relish over the following five years (see attached photo). He subsequently painted murals in the Regent Theatre and other famous Melbourne landmark buildings.
Seriously, you couldn’t make this stuff up, could you?!
Murals at St Mary’s.
Upon arrival at the track I note it is rated a Good 4, meaning it is dry and moderately firm. When I have a close look for myself over the fence I see it also has a plentiful covering of good length grass. No complaints about the track from anyone, please.
Always inspect the mounting yard for primary source evidence.
A happy crowd enjoys the afternoon’s eight race card under the shade of many trees and umbrellas.
A pie, a can, a racebook and a shady seat under a tree at a country racetrack.
Maybe heaven can wait just a tiny bit longer.
I have picked out Black Sail, the favourite in the Cup, as my best bet of the afternoon as I think it is classes above the other horses having won the Listed C S Hayes Stakes at Adelaide at its previous start. I lodge a bet at its starting price of even money – or “yours for mine” in racing parlance – and find my vantage point. I then start mentally counting my imminent winnings.
Black Sail likes to lead and the Bairnsdale track is reputed to be kind to horses who race handy to the lead. But alas, it starts slowly. Who knows? Perhaps the 1,000 kilometre float trip from Adelaide to Bairnsdale had something to do with it. Never overlook the obvious.
Other jockeys are then able to keep it cleverly snookered on the rail where, unfortunately, it stays all race with jockey Ben Allen unable to get a clear run. The John Maloney trained The Regiment salutes at $6 after a clever, well-timed ride by Michael Dee.
Strictly speaking, there is nothing improper or illegal about these tactics although in a slowly run race with a small seven horse field it takes quite a bit of doing so I immediately smell a conspiracy. Mind you, this is horse racing though and I am reminded of John Rothchild’s book Dr Turf’s guide to better punting. One chapter is titled “Ethics”. It consists of the title followed by five blank pages.
Despite this disappointment, an unlikely highlight of the afternoon takes me by surprise at the finish of the last race of the day late in the afternoon where locally trained horse Flying Basil greets the judge at generous double figure odds.
Flying Basil thrills the locals.
Country folk are always very parochial and supportive of their local horses when they race at home. Flying Basil proves to be no exception.
As apprentice jockey Mikaela Lawrence boots it out of the leading bunch at the 100 metre mark and rides hands and heels to the line with confidence there is a sudden eruption behind me. The large, raucous, well-quenched local crowd roars its approval.
Only then do I realise that by carrying just 52 kilos after Mikaela’s claim, while the better fancied horses carry 59 and 60 kilos, Flying Basil is the “weight” special of the afternoon. Doh! How did I miss that!
As I leave the track there is still a buzz of excitement. Mikaela has made many friends.
After the trip home tomorrow my first free voucher will have taken me 710 kilometres. (Don’t you just love the future pluperfect tense?)
Omnia bona finem.
I start making plans for the second and third legs of the challenge, namely, the three day Warrnambool carnival in early May followed by the three day Swan Hill carnival in early June.
Bring ‘em on!
For more Almanac stories by Roger Lowrey click here.
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About Roger Lowrey
Roger Lowrey is a Geelong based writer who lists his special interests as reading, writing, horse racing, Roman history and AEC electoral boundaries. Some of his friends think he is a little eccentric.
Roger, an enjoyable excursion indeed, complete with your versions of Bradshaws – the Ablett biography, the church service readings and the Form Guide. On the sartorial front, I think that Michael Portillo is cut from a different cloth! Strange about the Four’N Twenty – a bit like being offered a Fosters at the Guinness brewery! Looking forward to your next excursions.
Riveting material, Roger. I love the concept of the challenge, best of luck with it, and may the punting gods smile on you. I endorse Ian’s observations.
I was also a western districts boy, unfamiliar with Gippsland, until a series of work commitments meant that i spent sme time travelling there, with Bairnsdale as a specific focus (the TAFE College, rather than the racetrack). My daughter also taught in Traralgon briefly, so we spent some time there.
You might enjoy some of the writing of the estimable Don Watson to give you more of a feel for Gippy. His recent collection “Watsonia” gathers some of his magazine and newspaper writing and much of it derives from his Gippsland childhood.
It’s a great read Roger.
In the next year I’ll be eligible for the four free rail vouchers. Which races could I get to : Mildura is an option. maybe even the annual Manangatang gallops.
I’m originally a Western Suburbs boy, so Gippsland is a bit of an unknown to me(us).it’s an area we’ve been interested in getting to know. Maryanne & I of course been delayed in our visits by two years of lockdowns, so that hasn’t helped. Buchan & Swifts Creek picnics appeal, but no train stations are adjacent, maybe a meeting in the Latrobe Valley is the best bet; literally.
Who knows Roger , if/when I have a Friday off I could always pop into Haskins for a chinwag.
Happy punting.
Glen!
Why did I read this with the voice of Michael Portillo in my head?
Very enjoyable. Thanks, Michael, err Roger!!
I’ll follow this with great interest RDL now that I’ve reached the magic Seniors age (and some)
Four n Twenty pies are made by Patties btw
Grand read and grander adventure Roger. Like you I always found the travel and admission costs the cheapest part of a day at the races. Does the TAB offer a similar seniors bonus?
Back in the day we’d drop into the Sevenhill monastery church on the way to Clare races on Easter Saturday – kneeling to intone “oh god whose will divides our way; give us winners here today”. He frequently did but Oakbank Easter Monday was a different matter. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.
“Gary Ablett Snr”? Clearly not an autobiography.
Unusually for an SA/WA lad I have spent time and dined in the Bairnsdale hostelries. A teaching colleague of the Avenging Eagle has retired down the road in Paynesville on the Gippsland Lakes. We spent 4 days with them a couple of years ago and the Bairnsdale golf course (halfway between both towns) is highly recommended.
Now young Roger (adopting censorious tone) your songwriting knowledge is matched only by your race form analysis. Jimmy Webb didn’t write every Glen Campbell song. The great “Gentle on My Mind” is a John Hartford composition. An easy mistake to make – like backing even money favourites.
Who cannot love a train journey? I love going on a train as much as I loathe stepping onto a bus. South Australia ripped up its regional network so now there’s only the metropolitan lines. Thinking it educational and a diverting afternoon I took the boys on all but the Gawler line which after a few years is still not operating due to the electrification project. One day and they’ll get the life-changing thrill of hurtling through but not stopping at Womma.
The murals at St Marys look wonderful. As did your pie and beer at the races! On Michael Portillo my eldest who’s fourteen asked not unreasonably, ‘Does SBS only have train shows?’
Great story Roger. I anticipate the sequels and greater inclusion of sausage roll references.
Thanks for feedback everyone.
Specifically, quite right Ian. I don’t aspire to be anything like the snappy dresser Portillo is.
Peter, I saw the Bairnsdale TAFE building while on one of my several walks around the township. The TAFE capital works budgets always seem capable of producing such large imposing structures.
Glen, I’m ready any Friday you are.
Smokie, I’ll try to sound a little less like Portillo in the upcoming sequels however a train ride is a train ride is a train ride and it’s a bit hard to dress it up as anything much more exciting – but I’ll try.
Swish, that connection between Patties and Four’N Twenty doesn’t surprise me. In fact I had possibly thought the parent company was the other way around given the latter’s size and wider coverage.
Peter, I wrote one of my first FA columns on Oakbank however I have now spat the dummy and sacked them after they abandoned their jumps racing without any membership consultation.
Mickey, as it happened I could see no evidence of sausage rolls on course but I’m sure Chitticks Bakery will have plenty at the Warrnambool carnival. Stay tuned.
After careful thought though colleagues, my three votes goes to Mickey’s son for his question about SBS and railway docos. I love the way he joins the dots!
RDL