Laura's Spirit 10/05/09

Laura's Spirit in the OutbackOne of the more interesting Bel Esprit runners is Laura's Spirit, trained at Coonabarabran by Jeff Dixon.

After winning her 2nd start at NNGO ( Nanango race track is situated about 230 klms North-West of Brisbane, Queensland) in January 2008, she was spelled and returned to racing in September and won 1st up at TALW (Talwood race track is about 93 klms West of Goondiwindi in Queensland), ridden by Cameron Dixon.

Laura's Spirit had two placings at STAN (The Stanthorpe race track is located in Queensland about 54 klms North of Tenterfield-New South Wales) and KUMB (The Kumbia race track is located in Queensland about 30 klms South-West of Kingaroy) before she went to the paddock for four months.

Returning to the track in March this year, she seems to have left her form in the paddock and Jeff is going far and wide to try and win a race. She has raced at KCOY (Kilcoy race track is about 150 klms North-West of Brisbane) and SUNC (Sunshine Coast) for two lasts and followed up at her home track at Coonabarabran (The track of Coonabarabran is located about 595 klms North-West of Sydney) and DALB (Dalby race track is located about 235 klms West of Brisbane-Queensland on the Warrego Highway) and performed better.

On Saturday last , she raced at Augathella. The township of Augathella is located in western Queensland. Augathella is 85 kilometres north of the town of Charleville, and 748 kilometres west of Brisbane. The town lies on the banks of the Warrego River. At the 2006 census, Augathella had a population of 395.
The town came into being initially as a resting place for bullock teams lying at the convergence of three bullock tracks from Morven, Tambo, and Charleville. There is a growing arts centre in the town, a public swimming pool, a bowls club and there is an annual rodeo. Augathella has some polocrosse teams.

A picture speaks 1,000 words. Many of the buildings and fences in the Main Street, Augathella feature a fabulous series of murals depicting Augathella's history.
The Augathella Murals bring back memories of the shearing industry and quirky Outback events like billy goat racing.
Who is the artist you ask? Answer - The Augathella Community. About 50 community members got together and painted. Their inspiration was their love for the town, its history and culture.

It's easy to get diverted on the internet, so, back to this Bel Esprit (AUS) - Northern Pursuit (AUS) (Nediym (IRE)) mare.

The race was over 1000m, the jockey was Paddy Carroll and she won by 1.7 lengths. With the winnings on Saturday, Laura's Spirit has now won $11,050.

Well done Jeff