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Written for the Club’s 60th
Anniversary Race Meeting – 2007
In 1945 as
the war came to an end and local identities Tom Hansberry and
Gerry Schluter were racing horses at Wayville with success and
others raced their horses at the local Shows. The KHRC was
formed by the following local identities:
T Hansberry, L Burton, J Higgins,
J Brewster, D Davoren, F Donovan, B Modystach, R Hansberry, G
Schluter,
M Shakeshaft, A Shannon & E Hambour. The Club was registered
with the South Australian Trotting League with Mr Tom Hansberry
being elected as delegate.
Mr Eli
Hambour (who celebrated is 101tst birthday in January
2007) recalls they faced a massive task to prepare an area of
Dutton Park
(a section of the 50 acres bequeathed to the Kapunda Community
by the late Sir Sydney Kidman for recreational use).
It was native scrub with a creek running through it
adjacent to
Hancock Road
.. The group filled in the creek, prepared a
track, built horse stalls, erected an elaborate wood panel
running rail and other necessary facilities. Eli with many
talents was an experienced “powder monkey” and he undertook the
job of blowing out the tree butts; he also was experienced as a
carpenter and supervised the erection of buildings including the
Totalizator building. Money was borrowed to grade and prepare
the track for racing in 1947.
All was in
readiness in 18 months for the Club’s opening meeting on 11th
March 1947. It was a day meeting, 105 horses raced, the majority
arriving and departing on the horse train, some from interstate,
the city and sidings in between. Eight races
were run with the total stakes of 385 pounds. It was a great
success and fitting result for the foresight and hard work of
the group of enthusiasts of 1945.
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