By Nick Creely

Warrnambool Racing Club track manager Dermott O’Connor is hopeful of some rain leading into the famed May Racing Carnival as his team prepares the track for three days of action-packed racing.

O’Connor, a past graduate of the Jacobsen-sponsored Future Turf Managers Initiative program, is working with a team of almost a dozen staff members to get the famous Victorian track in pristine condition ahead of the historic carnival which runs from Tuesday, April 29 to Thursday, May 1. The carnival features 22 flat races and eight jumps races, which will culminate with the 5500-metre Grand Annual Steeplechase on the final day and feature races (the Brierly and Galleywood) in the lead-in on day one and day two.

O’Connor said for the second year running the team was contending with dry conditions as they dial the track in for their biggest week of the year.

“It doesn’t help with Easter being late this year, then ANZAC Day and then suddenly we’re into May. But it is what it is, it’s pretty dry down here but it’s all part of the game unfortunately,” he said. “We’d definitely like some rain in the lead-in, it just takes a lot of pressure off us in terms of irrigating. Nothing beats good quality rain, the seed will pick up as well that’s around and it’ll help out the grass.

"I would say once you’re getting closer to the date the less rain is probably the better. You want a good downpour now and it looks like we might have some rain on the weekend, but on the weekend before you want your last shower and that’s it because if there’s rain on the race day that’s when it can chop up and become a bit of a bog fest.”

O’Connor, who took on the role as Warrnambool’s track manager in 2023 after previously doing his apprenticeship in the coastal south-west town, said the experience of last year was holding his team in good stead.

“Last year was a very dry year as well, we ended up having 104mm so it was pretty dry still for those standards,” he said. “We had to irrigate during the three days which has never really been done before and we had to irrigate really until July and August. It’s dry again this year and a lot of clubs down this way like us are really feeling it. You can’t control the weather, you just have to deal with it.”

O’Connor (pictured below right during the 2022 FTMI) said he will be leaving the grass at a longer length for jumps racing. The track will be cut to around 125mm (5 inches) early next week with the final cut to be 139mm (5.5 inches) on the Sunday. "You want to provide as much cushion for the horses to land, plus allow roots to grow as much as possible," he said.

O’Connor said there was a “buzz” around town at the moment as excitement builds ahead of the three-day carnival. “We’re doing extra hours to make sure we get things right. It’s not just the Course Proper to contend with, it’s the paddocks to worry about, making sure our public facilities, such as lawns, gardens are all done,” he said. “There’s a fair bit that goes into it that people probably don’t know but that’s all part of it and it brings a lot of excitement coming into May. There’s a really good buzz around the place.”

Photos (from top): Warrnambool Racing Club will host its May Carnival next week; An aerial shot (taken on 8 March 2025 by Nearmap) of the Warrnambool race track which will host the Grand Annual Steeplechase on 1 May. A section of track which loops to the north of the Course Proper is utilised for the race which covers a distance of 5500 metres.