The move for a life-sized sculpture in memory of champion racehorse Archer has progressed another step.
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Plans for a statue to be erected in the Shoalhaven of the the winner of the first two Melbourne Cups has been discussed for many years.
Now a significant donation of $20,000, following a Melbourne Cup function at Terrara House has boosted the project.
Shoalhaven City Turf Club vice-president Ian Whitby, who has been pushing for the statue to be made for six years, said the donation is a "great support".
However, Mr Whitby said the bronze statue is still a "fair way away" from being made.
"Shoalhaven City Council has really backed us, but it's been tried about four times before and it always seems to fail," Mr Whitby said.
"We just can't seem to get that support."
The estimated cost of the solid bronze statue is anywhere from $180,000 to $300,000.
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Mr Whitby said most of the funds for the statue have come from donation tins at local pubs and clubs, and during COVID when pubs weren't open, things slowed down.
Funds have also been collected by the turf club recycling their bottles and from personal donations.
"One of our local racers, when he won last year, donated $1000 towards it the fundraising," he said.
The proposal to build the Archer memorial, featuring his owner and trainer Etienne de Mestre and jockey John Cutts was made to council in 2015.
Council unanimously supported the motion to support the turf club's project to develop the memorial.
Trained by de Mestre and ridden by Cutts, Archer was the inaugural winner of the 1861 Melbourne Cup and went on the win it again the following year.
de Mestre trained the huge horse, who stood 16.3 hands, at Terara and is the most successful Melbourne Cup trainer behind Bart Cummings with five wins to his name.
The bronze statue will provide for de Mestre to be leading Archer and the jockey riding the horse.
Mr Whitby said the statue should be in a prominent Nowra location, with the first choice being at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, creating a centre of pride and attraction for locals and tourists.
"It would bring in the tourist dollars, a lot of people love getting their photo taken next to a big statue," he said.
"It would be wheelchair accessible so they would be able to have their photo taken alongside the statue.
"The statue itself will be low maintenance being fully bronze, it would just be a case of washing it down when it gets a bit dusty and a wash every couple of years."
Mr Whitby said the next step is to keep pushing for support, and hopes to have the statute by the next Melbourne Cup.
"The best way to help is through donations, but I hope to create more general interest in the Archer statue and in Nowra's history itself," he said.
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