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26 March 2001
The favourite is odds-on to squeak in
IT is the race that stops ... and starts ... and stops ... an entire country region.
Bylong, population fewer than 100 — plus 20 salivating cats — will be overtaken by racing fever as people flock in for Australia's premier mouse race.
Anticipation will reach fever pitch, with up to 1000 spectators waiting for the starter to launch the racing rodents towards glory in the Bylong Cup.
About 100 elite mice will line up to scamper through 10m of perspex tubing in 10 races, each winner qualifying for the final.
The charity event originally began as a fundraiser to send local school students on excursions. It has helped revive local economic fortunes, providing a source of revenue by establishing tourism as a thriving industry.
Deputy mayor of Rylstone Shire David Roach said: "The Mouse Cup is good for the region. It brings people in and lets them see the area and makes them want to come back."
Money raised goes towards the Rylstone hospital and school and other local charities.
According to Rylstone Council, which encompasses Kandos, unemployment in the two towns hovers at about 25 per cent, against the state average of 5.6 per cent.
"It's been tough around here. The Mouse Cup is a day where everyone can forget their problems. It helps establish stronger community values," the deputy mayor said.
Already keen trainers from as far afield as Queensland and Newcastle have begun to ready their mice for the event, with strict diets and mouse wheel training.
Buses will transport spectators from Mudgee, Bathurst, Lithgow and Rylstone, to the town, which is 3 1/2 hours north-west of Sydney, for the March 31 event.
For 12-year-old trainer Amy Noble and mouse Splogett from Maitland, this will be the first race after they came across the event on a country drive last year.
According to Amy, her three-year-old mouse has been running around the mouse wheel 200 times a day in preparation.
"She's had a couple of babies but she's still ready to go. Other people have been giving special food but Splogett's already fit enough," Amy said1 .
21 March 2003
IT WAS the scandal that rocked the mouse-racing world — the Bylong Mouse Cup was about to run ... and someone smelt a rat.
For the next four years Bryden Perry suffered the gossip and the rumours while he served a self-imposed exile from the sporting event he loved.
It haunted him — especially that all the allegations were true - - though he still denies he fed the rat steroids.
Now Bryden is back-breaking a four-year exile to return to the sport he loves.
And, what a sport.
Cats are banned, along with wild mice, hawks and owls, but visitors are welcome — and expected.
On March 29 Bryden will join an anticipated 800 other mouse- racing fans to cheer the more than 100 rodents who will race through a specially designed perspex course over a ten-event card for the coveted Bylong Mouse Cup.
Cup secretary Jodie Nancarrow said the event was a chance to come together and put the problems on the land aside for a day.
Bylong, 100km from Mudgee, doesn't see a bigger day. All money raised is donated to local charities2 .
31 March 2007
Planner
MOUSE RACES
This quirky event will feature 11 mouse races, held along a 180cm- long enclosed track. There will also be face-painting and games, a jumping castle, mechanical bull rides and an alcohol bar for the adults3
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8 March 2008
VERY MICE PLACE
Mouse races, Saturday, March 29, $3, under 12s free
The quiet village of Bylong might be a three-hour drive from the "rat race", but you wouldn't think so on one weekend in autumn. Noted for its thoroughbreds, the village of 50 with its two churches, butcher, general store and primary school of nine students, is to be invaded by 1200 when it hosts the 20th Annual Bylong Mouse Races, complete with all the regalia of a horse race meeting.
This year's outing will take place on Saturday, March 29, at the Bylong sportsground.
The field won't be particularly large, but that's of little concern to fans who make the journey across the Blue Mountains to the western edge, a 70km drive east of Mudgee and 55km north of Rylstone.
Ten races are on the program, run on an enclosed track that's a scaled down version of the Melbourne's Flemington course.
At the end of the day, the winners of each of the 10 races compete for the sought after Bylong Cup.
"It's a great family day," says Jolieske Lips, who owns and manages the RooTreat B & B between Rylstone and Ilford.
"The mice run along a three to four-metre long track which is raised about a metre above the ground, the crowd watching through perspex. Each mouse is sponsored by a local company and the money raised from the betting ring donated to charity."
There are bar and barbecue facilities along with a series of children's activities and, for car enthusiasts, a ute display.
Gates open at 9.30am, the first race is at 11am and all proceeds go to charity.
To tantalise the tastebuds, the region prides itself on its beef, lamb and organically-grown olives. While nearby Mudgee has its wines, Rylstone has a range of olives grown by Lakelands Olives.
The olive grove isn't open to the public, but there is a tasting room at 69 Louee St, Rylstone, where you can sample the produce.
Owner Knut Kammann bought the 100ha property near picturesque Rylstone in 1988 and soon after began planting olives.
"We loved the trees, taste and health benefits of olive products," he says. "The first 1200 trees were planted in November 1996, pioneering high-altitude cool-climate growing of olives west of the Blue Mountains."
The beautiful Rylstone region is not only the gateway to the World Heritage-listed Wollemi National Park, it is also the starting point of a drive through the scenic Capertee Valley and the deeply carved upper valleys of the Goulburn and Hunter river system.
With villages named after such relaxing things as Running Stream, you can expect a quiet getaway. And while there may be mice, the area is a long way from the rat race4 .
24 March 2010
The best Mickey Mouse race day belongs in Bylong
WHEN it comes to racing animals, most people might think of horses, greyhounds or even camels. But not those living in Bylong in the upper Hunter Valley. This weekend the tiny town between Mudgee and Muswellbrook will host the 22nd running of the Bylong mouse races.
"I guess it's our version of the Melbourne Cup or Golden Slipper," says Andrew Wallings, chairman of the committee which oversees the hall where the rodent races are held. "Everybody in Bylong takes part and there's a great atmosphere in the town that weekend."
But it's not just the locals who get caught up in the excitement - more than 2000 people attended last year's race meeting and Mr Wallings is hoping for a similar turnout on Saturday.
"We get people from Sydney and all over the state travelling here for the races and many of them camp over in the town and make a real weekend of it.
"It's a pretty unique event and it's a lot of fun. Some visitors have been coming for years and tell us it's an important date in the diary."
The mice race across a 12-metre perspex box in which 10 tracks are stacked on top of each other to allow easy viewing. The winners from 10 heats then go into the final for a chance of snaring the cup.
"The mice don't get trained, so you don't know until the race is run whether they'll run straight to the other side or just around in circles. It adds to the spectacle," Mr Wallings says.
The race meeting was started as a way to raise money for the local school and after last year's event, more than $30,000 was given to charity.
For the mice, though, there is more at stake than just the glory of being named this year's champion. All are bred locally to be supplied as food to reptile owners and, while many are sold as pets at the end of the races, others end up in the food chain.
But not the winners. "I make sure that I keep the fast ones who win the races and they get used for breeding the next generation of runners," says Sue Athey, who lives down the road at Charbon and supplies the mice.
"I guess it's a bit like racehorses where only the good ones get to go to stud, so maybe in a few years we'll have a stable of supermice that are super strong and super quick."
Credit: Tom Reilly5
20 March 2013
Scurry along for the 25th annual Mouse Races
Get set for the 25th annual Bylong Mouse Races this Saturday, March 23, at the Bylong Sportsground.
It'll be a fabulous family day of fun and great entertainment.
Gates open at 10am with the first race at 11am. The 11 race program consists of ten heats followed by the Bylong Cup at 5pm which decides the champion mouse of the day.
Entry fee is $5 per person and kids under 12 years are free. The day is filled with fun for all ages with the kid's tent operating all day with body and face art, lucky dips and showbags.
For the adults there are great opportunities to walk away with prizes from the raffle, the chocolate wheel and of course they can have a bet with the bookies.
A barbecue and full bar facilities will operate and organisers guarantee you won't have eaten a better steak sandwich.
Other attractions include music, Pooka the Clown and his magic show, an auction of donated items, Calcutta, guess the weight competition, a jumping castle for the little kids and a mechanical bull ride for all ages.
All money raised on the day is distributed to charities and groups throughout the local area, with over $450,000 having been distributed since it started 24 years ago.
Credit: BRENT BARLOW6
24 March 2013
Hundreds of racegoers, a field of highly trained starters and even three kitties celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Bylong Mouse Races on Saturday.
Bylong became a mini town, with around 170 campervans and tents filling the campsite at the Bylong Sports Ground and a further 67 motorhomes and vans from the Winnebago RV Club parking across the road at 'Sunnyside'.
Race committee secretary Jodi Nancarrow said not all the 2500 wristbands ordered had been used, but by the end of the day, both the barbecue and drink stand were running out of stock.
It's been a wonderful day and people have been very generous,' she said.
Over 25 years, Bylong Mouse Races have raised $450,000 for local causes and Ms Nancarrow expects the total will reach $500,000 after this year's takings are counted.
Bylong Hall Committee president Andrew Wallings, cutting a specially mice-themed cake made by long-time race supporter Kay Tindale, thanked volunteers and supporters.
For Bylong Mouse Races to go on for 25 years is a testament to the Bylong community and communities not far away,' he said.
We wouldn't have got to 25 years without the support of volunteers and people from within the community and from outside the value.
The big winner of the day was Darren Witherspoon of Cessnock, who paid $650 for Thumbelina in the auction for Bylong Cup qualifiers and took home the $1950 first prize. Witherspoon also bid $500 for the runner-up, adding another $772 to his prize haul.
Although Bylong's best-known ex-landowner, former Labor MP Eddie Obeid, was not present, he was not forgotten.
Starters included Fast Eddie from the Labor Stable, who according to the form guide 'has been sharing his time between Perisher and Bylong, making friends in one and enemies in other' and IKAK Eddie, highly rated after pre-season training with the AFL and NRL teams.
Unfortunately, neither Eddie made it to the winners' circle.
Long-time race supporter Gordon Douglas of Cessnock, who entered both Fast Eddie and the equally disappointing runner Julia ('needs to be put out to pasture by September') conceded that his starters had let him down.
I think they have let us all down,' he said.
Regular racegoers were already planning their return visit as the last stragglers were coaxed from the race track, but with organisation of the event falling onto the shoulders of a small committee, the future of the event is in doubt.
Mr Wallings said the committee would reassess the future of the event when the results of this year's event are reviewed.
Credit: ROBYN MURRAY7
22 January 2014
Bylong Mouse Races end after 25 years
FOR 25 years, visitors have come to Bylong in March for the annual mouse races, but after its most successful run last year the event has been cancelled.
A combination of a dwindling population and community apathy has cut down the hopes of anyone hoping to train up a Phar Rat or a Black Camembert for the event.
"Last year we had a record profit on the day...and we've been nominated for Community Event of the Year on Australia Day," said Jodie Nancarrow, secretary for the Bylong Hall Committee which organised the event.
The number of visitors for the event kept getting bigger over the years, while the population in the Bylong Valley got smaller - and after many years and "a mountain of hours" organising the races, Ms Nancarrow said the current committee wanted others in the community to step forward and take over this year.
"No-one showed any interest in taking over...so we decided 25 was a pretty good number to finish on," Ms Nancarrow said.
"We've done enough."
With last year's record profit of $60,000 bringing the total the event has raised for charity to more than $500,000, Ms Nancarrow said it was good for the Mouse Races to have "gone out with a bang".
Ms Nancarrow said she was proud to have seen the event grow over the years, as it became ever-more popular with Grey Nomads and other people travelling around Australia.
"It became a real family affair," she said.
The sense of fun the event provided was evident in the nick-name of "Gai Watermouse" - bestowed upon the person responsible for organising the mice each year, Ms Nancarrow said.
Last year, in the midst of the the Independent Commission Against Corruption's enquiries into (alleged) dodgy mining deals in the Bylong Valley, locals were also happy to see mice called "ICAC" and "Eddie" in the running.
Credit: RODERICK MAKIM8
26 January 2014
Australia Day 2014: Local award winners
Community event of the year: Bylong Mouse Races
.For 25 years, the Bylong Mouse Races have amused mouse aficionados on the last Saturday of March. Unfortunately, 2013 looks to be the final time the event will be held for the foreseeable future.
Run by a small band of volunteers from the Bylong Hall Committee Inc, the Mouse Races started from humble beginnings, raising a small amount of money for the local public school and grew to become fundraising event in our region. The 2013 event raised $60,000 to support a range of local community organisations.
Over its 25-year history, the event has raised in excess of half a million dollars for local community groups, charities, service organisations and community projects9 .
28 January 2014
After 25 years, Bylong retires from the race
The Bylong Mouse Races are retiring after raising half a million dollars for local community groups and running the award-winning event for 25 years.
Jodie Nancarrow, secretary of the Bylong Mouse Races, accepted the award for Community Event of the Year at Sunday's Australia Day celebration, the second time the event has won the prize.
It was also the first time many locals had heard that last year's event would be the last.
A diminishing community and shortage of volunteers has led to the end of an event that has grown into a major attraction since its humble origins a quarter-century ago.
Back in those days, there were a lot more people around, a lot more people involved, people employed by station owners,' she said.
With Cockatoo Coal now owning much of the valley's land, Ms Nancarrow said Bylong would be lucky to have 50 locals to help organise the event, and in the last few years, it had been a struggle to raise enough volunteers, even with assistance from outside the village.
She said the community would continue to shrink, and though Cockatoo could provide financial support for the event, it could not provide the enthusiasm and volunteers
I think Bylong will always be known for the Mouse Races,' Ms Nancarrow said, and pointed out that the town's entrance sign still said 'Home of the Bylong Mouse Races'.
People will still be able to see that and say that's where they used to have them.
Ms Nancarrow said the Mouse Races started with local schoolteacher Neil Druce approaching then Bylong General Store manager George Shipway with plans to raise funds for a school excursion to the coast.
The idea of the Mouse Races was born from that,' she said.
Basically, it was pretty casual, a bit of a barbecue, a few cold beers and the kids ran about.
Children caught wild mice in fields, farms and silos to raise on a tabletop, and the races raised enough money to fund the excursion and buy new sports equipment for the school.
The success of the event led to its return the next year, and it expanded its fundraising to include organisations who assisted the Bylong community, such as the Volunteer Rescue Association and local hospitals.
Ms Nancarrow said the selection criteria for recipients was basically, 'If you were involved in a car crash in Bylong, who would be there'?
The financial success of the races has also given self-sufficiency, enabling the group to strike a dollar-for-dollar deal with Mid-Western Regional Council to develop a park area with showers, barbecues and play equipment to greet the visitors who now come through on the sealed Bylong Valley Way.
It gets used extensively now, and without funds from the Mouse Races, it would never have happened,' Ms Nancarrow said.
Ms Nancarrow became secretary of the event 13 years ago, after taking over the Bylong General Store.
She has seen the event move under a marquee, which she said added to the noise and enthusiasm with which punters supported their mice, and ensured the event was able to continue 'rain, hail or shine'.
She said a following of grey nomads had developed through word of mouth, often arriving days before the event and requiring large-scale camping amenities.
People come to the event and are blown away that a little town like Bylong can put on such a great, well-organised show,' she said.
Credit: SAM PAINE10
30 January 2014
Cheesed off: Bylong mouse races canned
FOR 25 years, visitors have flocked to Bylong in March for the annual mouse races, but after its most sucessful run last year the event has been cancelled.
A combination of a dwindling population and community apathy has cut down the hopes of anyone wanting to train up a Phar Rat or a Black Camembert for the event.
Even winning the Mid Western Regional Council's Community Event of the Year award on Australia Day wasn't enough for the organisers to reconsider, after years of hard work.
Secretary for the Bylong Hall Committee Jodie Nancarrow said the number of visitors for the event kept getting bigger throughout the years, while the population in the Bylong Valley got smaller.
After many years and "a mountain of hours" organising the races, the current committee wanted others in the community to step forward and take over this year.
"No-one showed any interest in taking over... so we decided 25 was a pretty good number to finish on," Ms Nancarrow said.
"We've done enough."
With last year's record profit of $60,000 bringing the total the event has raised for charity to more than $500,000, Ms Nancarrow said it was good for the Mouse Races to have "gone out with a bang," especially with winning the Australia Day award.
Ms Nancarrow said she was proud to have seen the event grow throughout the years, as it became ever-more popular with "grey nomads" and other travellers across Australia.
"It became a real family affair."
The sense of fun the event provided was evident in the nick-name of "Gai Watermouse" bestowed upon the person responsible for organising the mice each year, Ms Nancarrow said.
Last year, in the midst of the Independent Commission Against Corruption's inquiries into mining deals in the Bylong Valley, locals were also happy to see mice called "ICAC" and "Eddie" in the running.
RODERICK MAKIM11
23 February 2014
A teary Gai Watermouse to bid renowned rodent races adieu
IT started as a fund raiser to help pay for a trip to the seaside for Bylong Public School students back in 1988.
But the famed Bylong Mouse Races, which raised about $500,000 over their quarter-century duration, have run their last Cup as organisers call time on the tradition.
Blaming the dwindling rural communities in Bylong and surrounding Mudgee and Rylston, chief organiser and Bylong Hall Committee secretary Jodie Nancarrow said she and other volunteers — including the head trainer nicknamed Gai Watermouse — have had no choice but to pull the pin.
It comes as the number of residents in the area has dropped from around 150 to just 50 in the past 18 months as farmers sell up.
"You can't blame people for selling their properties given the money they're being offered by the mining companies and the horrible drought we're going through, I suppose," Ms Nancarrow said.
"But it is a shame to see the races come to an end. We have raised a lot of money for a lot of worthy causes over the years and it has become a huge tourist attraction. We had 3000 people attend last year." Consisting of 11 races — 10 heats and the Cup — the races had grown year on year since 1998, highlighted by the famed switch from field mice (''too fast", according to Ms Nancarrow) to pet mice, which were trained and donated by local Sue Athey — aka Gai Watermouse — for over a decade.
Now after 13 years of organising the races, Ms Nancarrow and other volunteers opted to pass the duties on to a new group. However, she says, there were simply no takers'."No one showed any interest, so we figured 25 was a good number to finish on," she said.
Credit: AMY HARRIS12
4 October 2019
he proposed Bylong Coal Project - and its rejection by the Independent Planning Commission's (IPC) - put the valley in the spotlight, and before it fades locals would like to use it to rebuild the small community.
That could potentially mean the return of the famed Bylong Mouse Races, which were held for the last time in 2013 after a quarter-century.
In that time the event also raised half a million dollars for local community groups, including the hall at the village.
"They stopped because they couldn't get anyone to do them any more, there's only six or seven of us along here now," Bylong Valley farmer Phillip Kennedy said.
And added that neighbourly discussions will soon commence to explore options for getting people to visit the area.
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"A lot more people are aware of where Bylong is now, and how beautiful it is, and the more people we can get here the better," he said.
"If we can get back to those Mouse Races crowds of 1500-2000 people, maybe some music at night, and beautiful warm weather - it would be fantastic."
Last month, the IPC refused development consent for a an open cut and underground coal mine in the Bylong Valley, citing concerns about long-lasting environmental, agricultural and heritage impacts.
Earlier this week the comapany behind the project, Kepco Bylong Australia, said it is "currently closely reviewing the IPC's report to determine what options are available following the IPC's decision".
The decision also prompted an advertising campaign by the NSW Minerals Council.
Mr Kennedy said, "the IPC decision a fortnight ago was a win for agriculture in Australia."
And added that the attention on the valley needs to be used.
"We've had huge exposure, now we need to run with it and keep the momentum going," he said.
And referenced the appearance of the Bylong Valley Way on the Drive.com.au list of 'Top Ten Great Aussie Drives' in 2012. The route is also renowned among recreational motorcycle riders.
The Bylong Mouse Races began in 1988 as a bicentennial event, growing from there into one of the premier events on the Mid-Western Region's social and tourism calendar13 .