Barrels 4 a Cause ball raises over $6000 for West'N Breast

The gala evening was held in conjunction with 150 runs of barrel racing, attracting competitors from as far afield as Gympie, paying out $12,000 in prizemoney and $5000 in prizes.

One of the organisers, Joelene Gleeson said the group, which fundraises for special causes, wanted the chance to get dressed up as well as travel with their horses.

"We wanted to combine barrel racing with some night time fun," she said. "We all know a lot of people who benefit from the West'n Breast and Prostate Support Group - that's the reason for raising money for that."

As well as creating an arena at the Alpha Racecourse from scratch, thanks to a solid effort from the Alpha Jockey Club, organisers chose plenty of novel ways to raise money, including a sausage dog race on the Friday night.

The calcutta on that raised $2050 in itself and benefited when winners MacIntyre Concreting and Ann Maguire donated their winnings back to the cause.

Joelene's dachshund ran away with the race, much to her surprise, after a training regime of chasing kangaroos.

Over 280 people attended the ball on Saturday night, where they were able to bid up for four of the Alpha Brumbies footballers - Bailey Green, Joel Gleeson, Anthony Hafey and Brendan English - to do a day's work for them.

That alone made $1950.

Eye-catching barbed wire balls were sold for $630 and a huge multidraw raffle was another feature of the night.

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