Collie has secured the rights to host a national horse riding event in 2020, with the Tom Quilty Gold Cup Endurance Ride scheduled for September 18 and 19 of that year.
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The premier 160-kilometre ride is the one event every endurance rider would like to tackle.It is a test for both the horse and rider against the terrain and the elements as they checking in at various points for health checks etc.
The ride began in 1966 when R M Williams organised the first 100 mile (160km) endurance ride in Australia while asking his friend Tom Quilty, of Springvale and Bedford Down stations in the Kimberley, to sponsor the event.
Quilty, who was a respected horseman and a bushman, donated 1000 pounds, with a gold cup also being commissioned.
The first ride was held in the Hawkesbury area in NSW with 26 riders . Gabriel Stecher won, riding bareback all the way on a purebred Arabian stallion Shalawi, in a time of 11 hours and 24 minutes.
In 1986, it was decided to rotate the Quilty around the states and in 1989 it was held in Western Australia, at Mornington Mills, for the first time with 80 riders starting.
In 2020, the Western Australian Endurance Rider’s Association expects over 150 competitors, including international entries as Collie hosts WA’s sixth ride.
The Collie Shire and community-based volunteers will help host the event which will be held at the town’s racetrack which has room to accommodate campers and an area for vetting, strapping and entertainment.
The town will swell in numbers for the Quilty week as an exciting program is planned leading up to the start of the ride.