THERE hasn’t been a Swan Hill Cup winner since last century, but there has been one winner at the annual Cup Carnival for the past 24 years.
And, in 2022, the Swan Hill Women In Racing will be celebrating its silver anniversary just in time for a carnival, which includes crowds and a return to the good old days.
Women in Racing co-founder Sharon Anderson-Taylor says the original dream for the group was to encourage girls to want to have fun – at the races.
Which is exactly what they have been working hard for for the past quarter of a century to achieve.
And, as Sharon points out, WIR is a win-win for everyone involved.
She says apart from making the carnival the annual showcase of the committee, the money it raises goes towards purchasing extra things to help make Swan Hill Jockey Club the best it can be.
“That includes a range of low-profile, but absolutely essential things for the club, from basics such as chairs and carpets through to major investments including the swimming pool for the horses,” Sharon explains.
“It all started with a mini-marquee 25 years ago and has just kept growing since then – showing there was a real demand for the work we were doing,” she says.
“Particularly when we launched things such as the Girls Day Out and the Fashions on the Field.”
And WIR is the complete package when it comes to the Swan Hill Cup Carnival, its members and supporters have always done the cooking and catering – and Sharon and her committee kept right on putting together table centres while talking about the 2022 carnival.
They are especially looking forward to getting the whole WIR show actually back on the track after the protracted COVID hiatus.
And looking at the scale of 2022 makes everyone involved look back on that first mini-marquee and laugh.
This year the WIR Friday has been forced to cap numbers at 160 because any more would be simply too much to handle.
And at that size WIR have gone outside for help, engaging Any Occasion Katering – another opportunity for another local business and the value of this collection of gung-ho girls keeps spreading.
Sharon says they have been able to retain almost all their sponsors, going right back to year one, and in 2022 have welcomed four more on board.
“The Beauty Spot, My2girls, Bloom Medispa and The Guardian have all joined us this year – and joined Swan Hill Stockfeeds, Aspire Jewellery, Amber Sceats, Seksy, Marraboor Pharmacy, Annabelle M, Ultimate Fashion, Swan Hill Optical, Bertocchi, BagQueen, View Hotels, Kbs Homewares, Bakker & Glen, Grizzly, and Voyage Fitness,” she adds.
“We really appreciate, and are very grateful to, all our amazing sponsors who have remained supportive of us again this year.
“It’s all about keeping things local and keeping the local economy turning over.”
The success of the WIR movement is as tangible as it is inspiring – almost immediately it impacted on numbers through the gate at the racecourse.
In 2001, just four years after its launch, then Swan Hill mayor Bill Maher, congratulated the whole WIR team, giving it credit for what he described as “a staggering increase” in the numbers of racegoers attending the June carnival.
“If our original goal was to have something suitable to attract more women to the races, I think all our committees and members through the past 25 years have more than delivered,” Sharon says.
“We have our day on the Friday, we have fashion events spread across the three days and of course the headline Fashion on the Field event is on Cup Sunday – so we all hope to see you there.”
