The annual Hinnomunjie Race Day in the high country above is an experience for racegoers, first time participants and local socialites.
The East Gippsland News Weekend sent one of our intrepid reporters along to see what all the fuss is about:
The drive up was quite beautiful through the gorges and steep incline of the Great Alpine Road.
Signs of previous fires have turned now to splashes of iridescent lime green as new growth comes through.
The road was littered with what seemed like hundreds, but could be broken down to five to 10 sets of motorcycle riders loving their day out and taking joy in the swirling curves and swinging rhythm of the never straight road.
Winding through gums of the Great Alpine Road heading to the snowfield, we had a bit of a map, certainly no GPS, so finding the tiny little race track landscape was a bit of trial and error.
Eventually we came across the Hinnomunjie township, before backtracking to find the race track.
Then it was smooth sailing and we were met with a cheerful greeting at the gate and directed to the parking.
A bird’s eye view of the track was in the shade of the beautiful leafy trees, where people were already milling, eating and drinking in the cool shade.
Following the crowd we positioned ourselves at the railings around the area where the horses would parade before the race and could see beyond a sheltered row of stables the horses, where the horses waited patiently for their time to shine.
The day was hot and there would be no milling around after each race, trainers and strappers keen to get their steeds safely undercover, hosed and their thirst quenched as quickly as possible after the jockey dismounted.
There was lots to see and soon the human competitions were underway.
First up was the mullet competition where there were a couple of winners, one a wee darling dressed to the nines, a little shy, while the other with at least a couple of decades was delighted to be the recipient of the best mullet of 2025.
Next up was the Mr Dapper competition, the lady of the day and best dressed grannies.
Jan Danks looked lovely in pink and ably supported was soon handing out trophies and sashes.
The care and attention was touching and obviously every detail had been given a lot of thought.
The race they all come to see, “the cup” was on just after 3pm, by then a huge crowd was on track, many from the surrounding farms.
Each horse paraded before the race with their strapper and of course the jockeys in their colourful silks.
The horses gathered behind the starting stalls at the top of the main straight, the starter in control, assisted by the clerk of the course on his handsome palomino.
The race caller in a tower adjacent to the finishing line, standing on a couple of boxes gave him a fabulous view of the course, although the commentary was made difficult on a number of occasions when the runner disappeared behind the trees in the middle of the course.
The setting is gorgeous with the hills in the distance framing the valley in which Hinnomunjie race course is sheltered.
There is something terrifying about the effort the horses and their riders put in to winning.
There always has to be a winner and in this case it was number six followed by number one.
But again the heat reduced a sense of ceremony as the horses were relieved of their tackle and bundled into the shelter of the stables.
It was back to the human competition, for the awarding of the best of the day, as they paraded with some ingenuity or panache that hopefully would set them apart from their rivals.
This was most dramatic in the case of Mr Dapper, who on first sight seemed to have taken very little effort, but he surprised contorting himself in such an impressive way that there was no question that he was Mr Dapper.
The ladies were decidedly more discrete and their outfits had more panache than anything the men had to offer, with lovely colours, ruffles, pleats and lovely fascinators to impress the crowd.
There was some signs of rivalry at all in good part.
When it came to the seniors competition a totally charming group of delightful grandkids were clearly very much in love with their grandmother.
The field has been reported on for those more erudite spectators but for this novice race goer the horses were simply wonderful in their strength and beauty all the while seemingly patient in the way they accepted their role and did their duty for the humans all around them.
