
TFJC is praying for rain - President, Garry McQuillan, is 4th from left
TFJC's President, Garry McQuillan, said the club was only too happy to help: “We want to open it up to legitimate farmers who are struggling,” Mr McQuillan said.
“We have plenty of water and we want to share it.
“Carting water is not cheap so hopefully we can make it a bit easier. We also hope the drought is broken soon.”
Mr McQuillan added the water was safe for consumption: “It’s perfect for animals on the farm.”
Mr McQuillan can be contacted on 0418 677 056 for more details.
Meanwhile, the club welcomed the installation of a new irrigation system two weeks ago. It has been a long time coming as the breakdown of the older system forced the cancellation of the January race meeting.
“We’ve got a great system. The curator put them on at 5.30pm and by 11pm every inch of the track has been watered. There’s 16 sprinklers that can shoot 22 metres of water at one time.”
The system is run on an iPad program enabling it to be monitored remotely: “So if we've got rain we are able to turn it off.”
The club covered 20% of the cost while Racing NSW chipped in the balance.
“We are really thankful that Racing NSW saw value in it. They’re getting right behind us.”
Racing NSW has contributed $1.4 million to the track over the years. The club is gearing up to host the Gold Cup on Friday 7 September headlined by the inaugural Evermore Pearl Sprint.