//
ife le
l
sty
Quilty celebrates 50 years
Helen Dwyer sets out at the start of the first Quilty.
Photo courtesy Val Males
When Helen
Rich rode her
horse out of
a Clarendon
paddock into
the fog on
the night of
October 1, 1966,
little did she
realise she was
making history.
For the first
time, riders in
Australia were
attempting
to ride 100
miles in a day.
Today the
Tuition that makes a difference
Most School Subjects • Pre-school to Adults
set the foundation for educational success!
4 Week Money Back Guarantee
Term Reports and Free Diagnostic
enrolling now
Call us for your child’s educational needs
HSC • Selective Skills Exams • Art Classes
SCAN THE QR CODE TO DOWNLOAD OUR FREE APP! or
SEARCH THE APP STORE FOR “MASTER COACHING PENRITH”
PHONE 4722 3072
www.mastercoachingpenrith.com.au
sport of endurance riding has been
adopted worldwide and that ride
in the Hawkesbury that started it
all is about to celebrate its 50th
anniversary.
More than 400 riders are
expected to mount up at midnight
on Friday, June 5 at Del Rio on the
Hawkesbury River to ride 160kms in a
day in the Tom Quilty Gold Cup ride.
From all over Australia, UK, USA,
Japan, New Zealand and South
Africa, riders will compete for gold
buckles and the winner will take
home the Tom Quilty Gold Cup.
There were 26 starters at the first
Quilty and some hurdles had to be
overcome before it even began.
The RSPCA launched a campaign
to try and stop the ride and the
police threatened arrests if it went
ahead.
It was discovered it was illegal for
horses to be ridden on public roads
in a race for money so the riders
agreed to forfeit any prize money.
At 1.14am, horses began leaving
the Clarendon ride base at one
minute intervals with hand-held
torches to light the way.
Helen Dwyer (as she was then)
drew the short straw and was first
across the start line, something she
disliked intensely but she was there
for the adventure.
Her 12-year-old gelding,
Cheyenne, was used to night riding
having been trained on the beach at
Cronulla after dark.
“When it was low tide I used to
ride to Kurnell,” Helen said.
“It didn’t matter whether it was 10
o’clock at night, 2am in the morning
or midnight. I remember once
running into a policeman - It must
have been about midnight – and he
asked me what I was doing!
“In those days you didn’t know
how to train a horse to do 100 miles
let alone yourself.
“The ride itself was a bit of a blur.
I remember going up the road to
Mountain Lagoon. My horse was tired.
He didn’t want to go so I got off but
he didn’t want to lead either. I got to
Bowen Mountain with a tired horse
and I was tired and thinking I’ve still
got 17 ½ miles to go.
“I thought I’ve given it my best
shot and it hasn’t worked so I’ll pull
out. So I did.......and then I remember
getting back to the racecourse [in a
float] and realising the horse was not
nearly as tired as he’d made out he
was!”
There were seven successful
completions at the first Quilty.
Gabriel Stecher from Victoria won on
his stallion, Shalawi, riding bareback
in 11 hrs 24 m