October
AugustAustralian bridle
Innamincka, a village of less than 20 permanent residents in the far north east of South Australia, habitually holds an unregistered race meeting in August, one week before the Birdsville two-day carnival.
The net profit goes to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (the “mantle of safety”, in the words of founder John Flynn).
Over the 20 years that I have, as stipendiary steward, run this meeting, this amount would be at least $20,000 per year, which when paid into the coffers of the RFDS attracts a two-for-one subsidy from the government. Thus it has become a significant fundraiser.
In the late afternoon, after the races and before the night’s festivities, an auction sale is conducted. A great range of anything that will sell always sells very well.
In my home town, anyone leaving town holds a garage sale. At one of these, there were two bridles of good quality with no pricetag on them.
Upon me asking if the person would sell them and at what price, the answer was yes, and $1 each. Thus I became the owner with the intention of taking them to Innamincka, which in due course I did.
At the sale, the auctioneer pitched the two bridles as having been used by Phar Lap in the 1930s, and as a lot they sold for $520. After the two-for-one government subsidy, the RFDS thus received $1560.
To conclude, after the auction I picked up a $2 coin on the street, which I thought was the intervention of a divine power thanking me for my part in this melodrama.
Robe (SA)