Community
23 April, 2026
Auction raises hopes for a bright future
THE generosity of businesses and residents has seen an astonishing $82,500 raised towards a new training centre in support of Terang’s aspiring harness racing talent.
The Dalvui Lane function room was left without any remaining seats last Friday evening when the Terang Harness Racing Owners, Trainers and Supporters Group hosted a goods and services auction in a bid to raise funds for a new training centre in Terang.
Terang Harness Racing Owners, Trainers and Supporters Group president Harry Craven said he was blown away by how much had been raised thanks to almost 250 items up for grabs on the night.
“It went really, really well,” he said.
“We’re over the moon – it’s unbelievable.
“We’re so grateful for all the support we got from people, the people who were good enough to donate stuff and everyone who was willing to place their bids.
“We’re extremely thankful to everyone who helped us run the night too – we just couldn’t believe how well we did.”
The training centre is still in the early stages of conception, but those involved will seek to arrange a meeting with Minister for Racing Anthony Carbines in hopes of securing dollar-for-dollar funding.
“With the funds we’ve already got and now this, it should make a good leg-up to get a Pitch started in the not-too-distant future,” Mr Craven said.
“We can then try to build on that as time goes.”
Terang Harness Racing Club president Chris O’Connor said the club was proud to have a group such as the Terang Harness Owners, Trainers and Supporters Group which dedicated its efforts to uplifting the future of the sport in the region.
“It’s a very noble cause they’re trying to raise money for with the training centre,” he said.
“They’ve gone quite a way in putting some money together to make it a realistic bid, and we’ve got to do a bit more to build it up, but it’s a fabulous effort to put so many eyes on.
“We appreciate businesses are under a fair bit of pressure so to get that kind of support has been spectacular given the times.
“It’s all come together, they did a great job on the night, and I think everyone had a good, enjoyable night raising a lot of money.
“As a club, we’re proud of our owners and trainers’ group which works so hard behind the scenes to support the committee.”
Mr O’Connor said he believed the concept of launching a local training centre was an example of how the harness racing industry was heading in the right direction.
“We see the training centre as bringing forward an opportunity for so many younger people who want to train some horses, as well as just working the stables,” he said.
“It’s a great opportunity which I think of as an incubator for the industry to get those young trainers, give them somewhere they can train horses themselves and give them a chance to build up a reputation.
“Then maybe it could lead somewhere else one day, in a bigger and better way, but as an industry we need younger trainers coming in all the time.
“I think it’s wonderful that people want to do it, it’s great for the industry and it’s great for our local race meetings because, if we get trainers, we can retain horses to our meetings.
“That leads to a better product and a better sport overall.”
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