Yabby dabby do! A Sunshine Coast syndicate has become the toast of the outback after taking home the prized Calcutta winner’s purse at the hotly-contested yabby races.
The biennial Tara Festival is better known for its dozen or so camel races held across two days in the Western Downs Region.
But the blue-tinged brown crustacean – with features similar to a small lobster – gets punters’ hearts racing in equal measure.
The first and second place-getters from each race are placed in a bucket and tipped upside down in the centre of the racing ring for the final.
The first yabby with all of its body across the circumference of the circle is deemed the winner.
Little Aussie battler yabby, Patto The Pirate, wearing the No.14 on its carapace (upper shell), was triumphant in 2022.
The racing form guide described him as: “A fine specimen of a MacIntyre River-bred yabby. He wouldn’t have come this far not to win”.
Its ecstatic Camel Toes syndicate of 19 members pocketed $3495 – their third festival win in a row.
Spokesman Wil Haberer, from Warana, knew Patto had form before the Coast syndicate spent its last $600 on the bid to secure him in the final.
With just $2 left in wife and syndicate organiser Raelene’s kitty, the friends had the last laugh on a very big camping weekend.
“We watched it in the heat but it’s just pure luck, let’s be honest,” Wil joked.
“In the actual race, you could see that it got nipped by another yabby.
“It just got a little nip on it that made it really go fast. Then it just took off. That was all it needed.”
While Patto The Pirate’s fate is unknown, Wil confirmed there was no Yabby Thermidore on the menu that night.
“We were allowed to take Patto, if we wanted to, to cook up, but we didn’t. So, I’m not sure where Patto might have ended up after such an exhausting race.”
“The race itself takes, well, it’s really hard to know because you’re just so excited, but less than a minute, I think. Maybe less than two minutes.
“It’s funny how you can get so excited over a little thing.”
Picture: Stephen MowbrayWil said that even with the winner’s purse split between 19 people, each couple more than tripled their initial outlay for the syndicate and still had a fun weekend of laying bets – some wins, some losses.
What began as a small event to put the town of Tara on the map in 2001 – attracting 950 attendees for its inaugural festival – has now become a major event on Queensland’s tourism calendar.
The latest festival on July 30-31 saw caravanners and campers swell the town’s population five-fold to 10,000 people.
The event garnered some astonishing Calcutta bids in the heats and final, with a total of $28,000 taken on the first day alone.
King Krab Keany attracted the highest bid at $900.
The cheapest yabby of the weekend is generally in Round 1, Draw 1, when you can expect to pay up to $1000-plus, once the adrenalin and beers kick in.
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The Woodhouse camel team trekked six of its animals 1500km from Boulia on the edge of the Simpson Desert to join others from Anna Bay in NSW, Yeppoon in Queensland and two Tara teams for a share of the $32,000 in prizemoney.
The Haberers had heard about the Tara Festival “on the grapevine back in 2017” as a camel version of the Birdsville Races and brought a group of mates together for some “good, clean fun”, complete with bands and dancing at night.
“We always look forward to it: you mark it in your calendar, you lock it away and you just go,” Wil said.
“It’s just one of those weekends.
“One bunch of single friends that came with us in 2019 ended up getting married from going there.
“More and more of our friends want to come because they see how much fun we have.
“We’ll definitely be back to try and get four (yabby race wins) in a row.”
The next Tara Festival will be held from August 2-4, 2024.
