Laura is Host to the Laura Cup in Queensland
Laura is a tiny town situated in northern Queensland, Australia. It is on the only road north towards the tip of the Cape York Peninsula, north of Lakeland. It is the centre for the area’s cattle farming community, and it is the setting of the largest collection of prehistoric rock art in the world. It also forms the northern apex of the “Scenic Triangle” between Cooktown, Lakeland and Laura. Some of the worlds most extensive and ancient rock painting galleries surround the little town, and some of them are open for the public to view. Laura has a Centre from which information on the rock art and local Aboriginal culture is available.
Aboriginal people have made their home in the Laura River valley for at least 50,000 years. In the wet season they would camp under rock shelters on the high ground, and this is where their rock art can be found today. These paintings in the Quinkan rock art galleries were only discovered during the 1960s by an airline pilot who surveyed the area from the air.
The town of Laura holds a horse race meeting every year that forms part of the Queensland Summer Racing Carnival. This occasion forms a huge part of the social scene in Laura, and attracts all the people of the town. The most important race run during the event is the Laura Cup, a weight for age race over the distance of 1450 metres.
The Exciting Laura Cup and Rodeo
The competition is only one part of the day’s social events, as there is also a rodeo, cabaret and dance, and the population swells to over three thousand. People come from all over the Cape for the annual Laura Cup race and rodeo. There is a long tradition of country racing in this part of the world, many of the races date back more than a hundred years. 1915 marks the 116th running of the Laura Cup. Queensland Racing tried to shut down the races a few years back, but the local populace found a way to keep the event open, and they offer greater prize money than is awarded at much bigger race meetings.
Horse racing is more than just a hobby to most Australians. Even as far north as the town of Laura in Queensland is the annual horse racing event one of the major social happenings of the district. The country even awards the population of Australia a public holiday to be able to enjoy the famous Melbourne Cup horse race. There are so many horse races run every week and weekend in Australia, that punters will find it easy to place a bet on the race of their choice. Many of these punters also like to chance their money with greyhound betting online.
Online Facilities for Betting Small Country Races
Online betting is growing in popularity incredibly quickly, owing to the convenience of placing a bet while not having to move from the couch. There is now a large number of punters who prefer the ease and simplicity of online betting to any other method, certainly when betting on a small bush race meeting like the one held in Laura. Now every punter can invest in every race in the country and enjoy the thrill of betting on the outcome. Horse races are extremely important items in the sporting calendar, and the more people place money on the racers, the more lucrative will be the win at the end.