A number of riders made the trip down to Dungowan on Sunday 26 April for the annual John Dewhurst Memorial handicap.
The race was run over a modified course from that used for the last two years, heading towards Nemingah before doubling back to Dungowan and on to Woolomin and the final turn for home. Riders had to battle extremely windy conditions on the first and third legs.
In the end, events unfolded in a fairly predictable fashion: firstly, the Tamworth club were excellent hosts as usual and ran the event very well. Secondly, as has been the case in Tamworth interclub handicaps for the last few years, the winner came from Bob Murison’s group (he’s a master at this game), and thirdly, fastest time went to an Armidale rider, with Mitch Bullen winning the sprint from the scratch bunch in a time of 1:24:54.
Gunnedah riders filled the first three places, with Matt Fitzgerald first, Claire Sheridan second, and Harry Michel third, so well done Gunnedah. Unfortunately Bob had no team mates left at the finish, but still managed to finish fourth.
In a rather amusing sideline, Billy O’Mara has been identified by the Tamworth handicappers as the most improved rider for 2009, having started with the Go bunch in 2008 and moving back to Block this year. But even Billy saw the funny side of this, as you can see in these pictures.
We can only hope we don’t have to ride with him when Nemingah – Nundle comes around in a few weeks time!