Fibreglass horses help schools celebrate history

Published: 6 June 2010

St Flannan's hope: Students at St Flannan's Primary School, Zillmere, with their entry in the Stradbroke Handicap "paint a horse" competition

THE culmination of the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival can't come soon enough for a number of local Catholic schools.

The 13 schools, including Sacred Heart Primary School, Sandgate; Mater Dei, Ash-grove; and St Oliver Plunkett, Cannon Hill, have their own horses in the running for $5000 in prizemoney in connection with the feature race of the carnival - the $1 million Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).

These horses however will not be taking to the track on June 12. They are life-size fibreglass mounts decorated as part of Brisbane Racing Club celebrations surrounding the Stradbroke.

It is the Stradbroke's 120th anniversary this year and to mark the occasion 24 fibreglass horses were sent to various schools to be painted as a celebration of the history of the feature race.

Sacred Heart Primary School decided the history and tradition of the Stradbroke should be the theme for its horse and the students included art examples of the Turrrbal, Goenpul and Nunukal indigenous people.

Each painted horse, such as the one from St Flannan's, was also accompanied by a written description of the historical era behind the painting's design and any connections to the particular school.

The competition will be judged on Tuesday (June 8) at the 6am "Breakfast with the Stars" at Eagle Farm racecourse.