In a fitting end to a local racing identity's life, Douglas Egan's funeral will be held at the Narromine Turf Club on Friday at 1pm.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A private burial will follow.
Racing in the central west and Narromine lost one of its staunchest supporters last Wednesday when Douglas Egan passed away at the age of 76 after a short battle with illness.
Originally from Enngonia, Mr Egan spent the latter part of his life in Narromine and was president of the Narromine Jockey Club up until his death.
A community-minded person, he also held positions including president of Enngonia Race Club, director of Bourke Rural Lands Protection Board, councillor on Bourke Shire Council to name a few. He was also involved with Narromine Lions.
In a sad twist of fate his club's feature race day was held on Sunday.
As a tribute the final event on Sunday's program was named in Egan's honour and jockeys wore black armbands in the race.
As well as being an administrator, Egan was a passionate racehorse owner with most of his horses under the care of Albert Hazlett from Walgett and then Nyngan trainer Rodney Robb.
His most recent success came just last Saturday when Hidden Strategy took out a Benchmark 55 Handicap at Louth.
An emotional Robb led the tributes last week.
"I did it pretty tough last night (Wednesday) to tell you the truth," Robb admitted.
"I could talk to you for hours about Doug. He had horses with me for probably 22 or 23 years and we had a lot of fun together.
"We went all over Australia winning races. We went to outback Queensland, Alice Springs,Darwin and they were some great times.
"The best horse we ever had was probably Let's Bat, but he had problems and we never saw the best of him.
"I actually went and spent three hours with him at his home last Tuesday and he was doing it pretty tough. I told him Hidden Strategy would win at Louth and when the horse got up it was like winning 20 races for me."
Just recently, Racing NSW allocated funds to the Narromine club for the erection of more stalls at the track.
It was a project Mr Egan was a staunch supporter of and Robb believed it may not have happened had his good mate not campaigned so hard.
"The thing I really loved about Doug was that with him black was black, and red was red. There was no in-between," Robb said.
"There was a time when the Narromine club wasn't going that well and Doug got on board, got people behind him and the club is going brilliantly now.
"Hidden Strategy actually won at the last Narromine meeting as well, so that will go down as a big thrill for me as well as the win at Louth the other day."
Douglas Egan is survived by his wife Carolyn, daughters Libby and Terina and their families while his sister Poppy lives in Dubbo.
