When Charna Edmunds first moved to Tomingley, what she knew about horse racing wouldn’t fit on the lining of a jockey’s glove...

As race secretary for this weekend’s legendary local meet, though, Charna is one of those unseen heroes who make Tomingley Picnic Races such an annual occasion for the tiny community 40 minutes south-west of Dubbo.

This Saturday, April 18, hosts this classic Aussie country meet at which she, herself, will be busy-as throughout.

“Oh, I won’t see anything; I’m pretty much stuck in the secretary’s office all day,” Charna explained cheerfully. “Handling the paperwork for entries and the like, talking to the emcee to ensure he’s mentioned everyone, calling sponsors out non-stop.”

The mother of three admits it’s been a long journey from when she first came to the tight-knit 100-strong community a decade ago.

“I’m not horse-minded at all, definitely not. I had no background or knowledge of the industry; I’ve just taken it on for the next generation.

“It’s such a nice community where everyone gets together and helps out, that’s what struck me when I first came here,” Charna said.

Getting in and helping, she revealed, includes a surprising amount of behind-the-scenes toil to make this one day of the year so special.

“Our hard-working committee does a lot, making the time to attend committee meetings and working bees on weekends. We have about half a dozen of these annually, for the only race meet of the year,” Charna explained.

She also added that this core group of workers have also faced other unique challenges over the past 12 months that has added to their toil on the 2200-metre track.

“To be compliant with new standards, we’ve been installing a new PVC (plastic) inside running rail for the whole track over a series of weekends; firstly, taking down the old wire-and-post rail.

“We also had some heavy rain earlier in the season, and we spent a lot of time removing khaki weed and cat’s heads from the running surface,” Charna said.

Seeking to reflect credit onto others, Charna lists a group of fellow volunteers who have gone above and beyond to make this weekend a success.

“I’d really like to thank my assistant, Josie Collett, and acknowledge the efforts of Ashley Howlett, who looks after the marquee, as well as Samantha Schipp for her work with ‘FOF’ (Fashions on the Field); their contributions have made a real difference to the event.

“There’s also Cameron Boucher our president, and our treasurer Benjamin Faber... the (Tomingley Gold) mine is also a big supporter, and we couldn’t do it without their support.”

Among other things, Charna said, they are also sponsors of the feature race on the day; the second last on the program.

“It’s the Alkane Resources Ltd Tomingley Picnic Cup, with $9000 in prizemoney. Race Four is also significant, the Bulgandramine Handicap, named after a well-known Tomingley family, also has a trophy.

“Our prize money for the day totals $44,000, which is pretty good, I think, for a picnic meet,” Charna said.

Other feature events on the strong six-race program includes the Eric Pugh Memorial (sponsored by Cracking Crutching); the JD McGaw Memorial (sponsored by JDP Heavy Diesel) named after a long-time patron of the club, with both races over 800 metres.

Also, with $7000 in prize money, is Race Three, the Rod Horan & Peter Angus Memorial event (sponsored by Steve Magill Earthmoving), and Race Four, the AS & J Strahorn O'Brian/Angus race (sponsored by the Strahorn Family), both over 1150-metres.

With most of the work now done, the committed crew from one of the region’s most picturesque villages, now only awaits fine weather and a full house on Saturday to see their work fulfilled.

“I’ve learnt a lot along the way, it’s a community where everyone gets in and helps,” Charna said.

“We’re also always looking for new members who may want to join. The more we have, the better,” she concluded.