They were minus the attention of the nation this year but the Ilfracombe race club committee was all smiles when plenty turned out for its annual Willowie Cup meeting on Saturday.
The event was part of the launch of the Western Queensland Drought Appeal in 2015, attracting planeloads of people from all over Australia.
This time around, in the words of Martin Forrest, the outlook was a little greener and a lot brighter.
Rain a month ago has refilled the town’s dams and patches of green turf were ready for the race day foot traffic.
The venue has also hosted two record-breaking hay runs this year, in January and April, and the condition of the facilities on the course prompted Burrumbuttock Hay Runners founder Brendan Farrell to call for funds to refurbish them.
It has resulted in a brand new bar that Brendan hoped would see another 100 years of stories told around it.