11/06/2026
🎥 SPOTLIGHT ON THE DOWNS 🐎✨
Today we take a trip back to 25 June 1998 at Clifford Park Paceway, where legendary Queensland pacer Wondai’s Mate is seen being led by Darryl Reinke during the Darling Downs Cup & Wondai’s Mate Classic Race Meeting.
Few horses have left a mark on Queensland harness racing quite like Wondai’s Mate.
🏆 121 starts
🏆 73 wins
🏆 34 placings
🏆 $456,536 in prizemoney
Trained by Merv Reinke on the family’s peanut and corn farm near Wondai and driven by his son Darryl, Wondai’s Mate dominated Australian harness racing throughout the 1980s.
Among his many achievements, he became the first Queensland pacer to win an Inter Dominion heat, achieved at Auckland’s Alexandra Park in 1983. He won two qualifying heats of that Championship before suffering severe interference in the Final, which resulted in driver Darryl Reinke being tipped from the sulky. The Final was won by fellow champion Gammalite.
Wondai’s Mate also won numerous feature races at Albion Park, including the Craven Filter Championship in 1984 and 1986, the Sunshine Sprint, and the Winter Cup in 1986, now known as the Blacks A Fake. He was also the first Queenslander to win a race on the Australian Grand Circuit through his victory in the Sir Clive Uhr Championship.
While he travelled Australia and New Zealand taking on the best pacers of his era, Clifford Park was regarded as his home track, where he recorded 12 victories and became a crowd favourite with Darling Downs racegoers.
Following his racing career, Wondai’s Mate went on to enjoy success as a stallion and was later deservedly inducted into the Queensland Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
📹 Video courtesy of Briz 31’s The World of Harness Racing. This footage forms part of an important visual record of Queensland harness racing history and provides a wonderful glimpse of a special day at Clifford Park in 1998. The accompanying audio features the voice of renowned on-course and Sky Channel racecaller Pat O’Shea, whose calls became synonymous with Toowoomba harness racing across Queensland and Australia for many years. We thank those who have preserved and shared this footage, allowing these moments to be enjoyed by a new generation of racing enthusiasts.
💬 Do you remember Wondai’s Mate?
Share your memories, stories and photos in the comments below. We’d love to hear them.
🏁 And if you’re wondering who won the 1998 Wondai’s Mate Classic at Clifford Park…
Stay tuned — we’ll be replaying the race next week!
🙏 Thank you to everyone who has engaged with our recent history posts. The response has been fantastic, with former participants, supporters and racing enthusiasts sharing memories, photographs and stories from harness racing’s proud past on the Darling Downs.
It is because of this incredible support that we have decided to make ⭐ Spotlight On The Downs ⭐ a regular feature on our page. Through this series we’ll continue to showcase the horses, people, race meetings and moments that helped shape harness racing in our region while preserving these stories for future generations.
Please keep sharing your memories, photos and stories — they are an important part of the history we’re celebrating together.
