president, Jarrod Marsden. ▪ File photo
Jarrod Marsden has been awarded Life Membership of the Cobar Miners Race Club.
The club’s immediate past president, who held the reins for nine years before stepping down last October, is to be officially awarded Life Membership at the club’s upcoming Picnic Race Meeting on August 2.
Life membership is an honour bestowed on individual club members whose exceptional, loyal and outstanding service and contribution has provided a measurable benefit to the club over an extended period of time.
In his nine years as club president, Marsden achieved a great deal with the Cobar club winning the Western Racing NSW Club of the Year Award twice, in both the 2016/2017 and 2022/2023 seasons.
Marsden was responsible for bringing back the Picnic Races race meeting which is now an annual event.
“The addition of the family Picnic Race Day to our annual racing calendar is perhaps my proudest achievement,” Marsden said.
During his time as president Marsden advocated for the club to host extra Pop Up race meetings in 2022 and 2023.
“We were the only club in the western district to race through Covid, and we held extra Pop Up meetings to allow racing participants to continue to earn a living,” he said.
A number of improvements were made to the club’s facilities under Marsden’s watch including: replacing the outside running rail which allowed field sizes to increase from 10 to 12 horses, building a new toilet block and rainwater tanks, the construction of a new gatehouse shed, upgrading the hill viewing area and the installation of more shade.
He also introduced the Copper Hooves catered marquee experience and, through his various connections in the mining industry, brought in more race sponsorship.
Marsden was also responsible for attracting special guests to the races which included legendry racehorse Apache Cat in 2016 and superstar jockey Jim Cassidy in 2019.
Marsden had a long term goal to upgrade the club to TAB meeting status which he didn’t quite achieve in his nine years of service.
“I believe Cobar is now well and a truly TAB quality race club but our sand based track doesn’t attract TAB status at the moment,” he said.
“We will continue to advocate in this area.
“I will absolutely continue to do as much as I can for the Cobar club, however my role as Mayor takes priority at the moment and I try and fit as much work at the racetrack in as my schedule allows.
“I am very humbled and thankful to be bestowed such an honour,” he said.
“The committee are a hardworking group that put together fantastic community events.
“I don’t think too many people appreciate the mental health benefits of what a social function like the races provides in a rural/remote location like Cobar.
“It’s one of the few things on the calendar that brings people, families, and groups together that otherwise might not have too much interaction in a relaxed setting outside of the farm or the mine sites they work at,” he said.
