Temperatures may have been in the 40s but plenty of people were on hand to show their warm regard for Barcaldine-based racehorse trainer Todd Austin on Saturday.
A fundraising day was held at the Barcaldine Race Club’s Christmas meeting to support Todd, one of Queensland’s top country trainers, who is recovering in Brisbane after surgery to remove a benign tumour from the lining of his brain last month.
There were numerous multidraw prizes and auction items on offer, and a trust fund has been set up to help the family – wife Toni and their two young boys Tommy and Toby – as Todd undertakes rehabilitation at Greenslopes Hospital for an indefinite period.
He’s been Queensland’s leading country-based trainer for the past few years, averaging at least 50 winners a season for the past decade.
He has trained 141 winners on his home track at Barcaldine and more than 100 at Longreach, with his most successful horse being the Group 1-placed filly Playtime.