The annual event marks one of the biggest weekends of the year for the town near the Northern Territory border, and Camooweal Race Club committee member Shelly Hawkins expects a strong turnout.

“People travel from far and wide to come to Camooweal this weekend, with plenty of people also coming in from their stations,” she said.

“It’s an important weekend for the town to showcase itself to many first-time visitors.”

With 42 horses nominated across the five races, Hawkins is expecting an exciting day at the track.

“We are expecting more than 500 people to attend the race meet,” she said.

“As it is the one and only race meet of the year for the town, we expect everyone to get behind it and support what is sure to be a fantastic day.”

Racing will conclude with the feature event of the day, the 1400-metre open handicap Camooweal Cup.

Mount Isa trainer Jay Morris has The Gallows, a newcomer to the region from Sydney, who will meet some of the better credentialled gallopers in the region.

“He’s a nice strong horse but it will be interesting to see how he copes with the dirt track out at Camooweal,” Morris said.

“He’ll be in the mix, as the distance (1400m) suits him just fine.”

Morris hopes to use this event as a springboard into bigger races for the galloper.

“I’m hopeful that we can run a good race and bring home the win on Saturday in the cup,” he said.

“If he does win, we can use the points from the win to get him into more races in the next couple of weeks.

“Especially with a class jockey like Tamara [Tincknell] on board, I’m sure he will put in a strong first up showing.”