Eve Lamb
For the first time ever the upcoming Castlemaine Gift will be live-streamed, but it’s not the only reason this year’s Gift will be especially significant.
Coming up fast on Sunday February 27 this year’s running marks the 100th year since the Castlemaine Gift first happened on Camp Reserve.
Organiser Darryl Nettleton was exuberant as he announced these details – and that plenty of sponsors had come to the party.
These include the Victorian Division of the Minerals Council of Australia, which is sponsoring this year’s $5000 120-metre Castlemaine Gift men’s feature race while also putting up $800 for the live-stream.
Other main sponsors include McClure Earthmoving, major sponsor for the 400-metre $4000 women’s classic; Leech Earthmoving, major sponsor of the 120-metre $4000 Women’s Gift feature; Castlemaine Mill Market, which is sponsoring the 3200-metre open event; and Mt Alexander Community Enterprise, which is major sponsor for the 70-metre open event.
Notably, prize money for the 120-metre women’s Gift final feature has almost doubled this year.
“At this point it is worth $4000 but if I do get another sponsor it will be increased to $5000,” Darryl told the Express late last week.
This year’s Gift is expected to attract some particularly classy competition from all points of Victoria and also from NSW and SA, as some other significant regional races that usually feature large in the lead up to the famed Stawell Gift have called a hiatus this year.
“We’re more important now with Bendigo’s (International) Madison Carnival not happening this year,” Darryl said.
The Castlemaine Gift is run under the control of the Victorian Athletic League and is one of many meetings on the VAL calendar that culminates with the three-day Stawell Gift in Easter.
“The winners of our women’s and men’s Gifts both get a bonus half-metre for Stawell,” Darryl said.
The hard-working Castlemaine Gift organiser said professional running had its beginnings on the Victorian goldfields way back in the 1800s.
“But the first running of the Castlemaine Gift at the Camp Reserve, and run in a professional manner by the Victorian Athletic League, took place on Boxing Day in 1922,” he said.
“There were several events, but the main race of the day was the 130-yard Castlemaine Gift. First prize was 100 pounds.
“This would have been a small fortune in the day and could have bought a small but reasonable house in Castlemaine.”
Fast forward a century and real estate prices may bear little resemblance to what they were back then, but entries for this year’s Gift – which also features a junior race program – are once again open.
They close Friday February 11 with late entries accepted up to Sunday February 13.
