The Omeo and District Racing Club will host its traditional Labour Day weekend meeting at Hinnomunjie on Saturday, March 9, with the feature race being the Hinnomunjie Cup, the 148th running of mountain picnic classic.
The meeting has a rich history and is steeped in heritage, the club laying claim to being the oldest picnic race meeting this side of the Great Dividing Range, established in 1876.
Originally thousands of people would attend and the event took place over a whole week.
Today the race day is the main social event of the year where horses and fashion mingle with the odd buck’s or hen’s party and always plenty of activities for the kids.
Racing families such as the Matthews, Mannings, Rules and Faithfulls, just to mention a few, have been the cornerstone of this event and some are still involved
today.
Mick Mathews was the president for more than 40 years and was famous for having won more than 100 whips in his career for horses he had trained and ridden.
The Hinnomunje Cup, run over 2000 metres, is now named in honour of Alec Manning, a legend of the turf in these parts.
Son Reg, who is still training, has won the cup 28 times (17 as a jockey, 11 as a trainer), last year taking the trifecta in the cup with Cheeky Prince winning ahead of Sarwatte and Anything But.
