ON behalf of the St Patrick’s Race Club, I welcome locals and visitors alike to our 60th race meeting, our special anniversary year where we celebrate all that has gone before us and hopefully provide an event to remember.
What started from humble beginnings in 1966 quickly morphed into Broken Hill’s biggest annual sporting and social weekend, and it has held that mantle for six decades.
Our current committee has the responsibility of maintaining and growing St Pat’s, a responsibility our hard-working passionate group has accepted.
I want to start by thanking our committee, volunteers and supporters – the work which goes into making this a successful day involves hundreds of hours.
It has been a combined effort, but I wish to single out and acknowledge Steve Radford and his team.
Their contribution to this 60th meeting is unmatched in St Pat’s history, from having the track in the best possible condition, transporting marquees, building new shade areas at the racecourse and lending equipment and advice, it has all come together as an amazing and incredibly generous effort.
Our 2025 race poster features the amazing work of Andrew Ormandy, son of our inaugural president Gordon, a colourful depiction of a horse with the colours reflecting the fashions of the field which Andrew’ s mother Joy oversaw. It is a wonderful piece of work, thank you Andrew.
Our event cannot happen without our corporate backers, including the Broken Hill Bank, Radford Family, Foundation Broken Hill, Broken Hill City Council, Toyota Broken Hill, BHP Hotel, Lion Nathan, Consolidated Mining and Concrete, Southern Cross Austereo, Mawsons, the Broken Hill Times, Silverton Hotel and Rag’s Chickens.
In 2025 we welcome Broken Hill Mines as a major sponsor. This company purchased the Rasp Mine in November 2024 and has entered into a profit-sharing lease agreement with the Williams family at the Pinnacles Mine – we see exciting times ahead and it is great to have this new company backing St Pat’s.
Our partnership with the Broken Hill City Council is one of respect and trust, working together to continue this weekend for Broken Hill, we have a strong relationship with mayor Tom Kennedy and his fellow councillors, along with general manager Jay Nankivell.
The support of council allows us to run this event with full connectivity – thank you.
Our race sponsors make it all possible.
These include the local registered clubs, Clubs NSW, Musicians Club, Radford family, Elders Insurance, Tri-state technology, EZY Projects, Lawrence Industrial and Lawrence Engineering and Shannon Electrics.
This year St Pat’s will pay a rebate of $200 per starter regardless of where the horse finishes and a $250 travelling allowance for every jockey, and this has been made possible by generous sponsorship from the Baillie family who run the BHP pub.
It is the club’s way of giving back to the trainers and jockeys who support our meeting.
I hope all have a wonderful St Pat’s, and hopefully back a winner or two, as well as enjoying a cold XXXX or a wine of your choice – and meet up with old friends or make some new ones.
Travel home safely and spread the word about our special race meeting.
Andrew Schmidt
President
