Sheep racing all over baa the shouting

Timaru Herald

GO EWE BEAUTY: The Racing Baa Blacks drew an enthusiastic crowd at Get to the Point in Pleasant Point on Saturday.

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Meet the racing Baa Blacks - they're highly prized, well trained and have busy schedules.

They proved to be a big hit at Timaru's Get to the Point festival on Saturday, but it's been a long hard road, according to trainer David Cone.

After 30 years as a sheep and wool consultant, Mr Cone had the idea of putting sheep on a race course two years ago and it's gone from to strength to strength, as his racing team is now fully booked.

He wasn't giving away any training tips but said his team of woolly racers gets a daily workout at his Halswell property when they're not touring.

Twenty sheep make up the racing contingent and the bets were coming in fast when they made five starts at the Pleasant Point Rugby Club fundraiser on Saturday.

"It's been a busy year for the racing team with numerous outings around the South Island and they have recently secured three-year contracts in a couple of centres," Mr Cone said.

"There's more to it than meets the eye and I have to deal with the rams chasing ewes during mating time.

"Mind you, it makes them go faster."

Mr Cone said the sheep were a money spinner with $3000 worth of tickets at $2 each, selling in a couple of hours at one event.

The main objective of sheep racing is to hold the winning number as several brightly clad sheep fly out of the starting gate, along a fenced course and cross the finishing line.

It was the second year that the Pleasant Point Rugby Club had invited Mr Cone and his racing sheep to assist with their fundraising effort.

While remaining tight-lipped about their training regime, Mr Cone said his woolly jumpers were on strict diets to keep them in athletic shape.