HORSE RACING
By LIAM DURKIN
JUST four sleeps to go.
All is in readiness for this year’s Moe Cup.
Sunday’s meeting is set to welcome thousands of racegoers for the time-honoured event.
Moe is the second stop on the Gippsland racing cup calendar, following last month’s Sale Cup.
Excitement is permeating, and the finishing touches are being put in place to ensure another great showcase.
Moe Racing Club has opted to stick with a Sunday timeslot for its marquee meeting, following a first-time running last year.
The move was made to provide a more family-friendly atmosphere.
Family, community and connection have been the cornerstones of Moe Racing Club in recent years.
The club holds a kids day meeting every January, and an annual meeting in honour of local clubs.
Most notably, Moe Racing Club also holds a pink meeting where all proceeds are donated to Latrobe Regional Health, and hosts free breakfast information sessions for young apprentices finding their way.
While no two Moe Cups are the same, the 2026 instalment will take on even more gravitas.
That’s because for the first time in nearly two decades, Moe Racing Club will hold a Moe Cup as the best country racing club in the state.
There is no hyperbole attached to that statement, for Moe was voted the best country racing club in Victoria by Country Racing Victoria last August. The frame takes pride of place in Turfside.
The club hasn’t been one to rest on its laurels. If anything, they’ve only worked harder to bring an even better racing experience.
The redeveloped Hillside Pavilion is ready, and features an extended deck offering premium viewing of horses coming down the straight.
Moe Racing Club has also paid a deposit toward the purchase of Crown land on which the club operates. This follows more than 10 years of negotiations with the state government to help secure the club’s future.
Far away from the track, there has also been plenty for Moe Racing Club to cheer about.
The racing club supports just about every sporting club in the district.
A number of those clubs celebrated premierships last season, including Moe’s senior football team, who broke a near 60-year flag drought.
The racing club renamed an entire meeting to commemorate the footballers’ achievement. Moe Football-Netball Club showed its reciprocal appreciation, bringing the premiership cup along. Moe FNC also ran its Thursday night meals out of Moe Racing Club while Ted Summerton Reserve was being redeveloped earlier this year.
The Lions’ A Grade netball team has played in the last four grand finals, winning three (2023-25), while Moe Meteors senior women are currently undefeated in the Country Basketball League.
Moe/Newborough Baseball Club also won this year’s Latrobe Valley Baseball Association premiership, just a year after Moe United Soccer Club did likewise.
For a town that supposedly doesn’t have a lot going for it – it’s sure done a lot of winning lately.
Success kept coming after last week’s Melbourne Cup, when Ciaron Maher became the first trainer in the cup’s storied 166-year history to claim the trifecta.
Maher wouldn’t send his horses to any old track.
He routinely sends them to Moe.
His horses aren’t just owned by anyone either.
This year’s cup winner, Point of Law, was previously owned by King Charles.
The King’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (Elizabeth II’s mother), part-owned a horse that ran in the 2001 Moe Cup (Life is Beautiful).
Once the Crown land is handed over, there might even be calls to rename it ‘Royal Moe’.
