The Birthplace of the Kelpie
The Wal Smith Memorial Casterton 50 is Australia’s longest running one day handicap cycling race.
Casterton is an historic rural service town situated on the banks of the Glenelg River in a valley surrounded by rolling hills. Situated 352km west of Melbourne and about 45 mins to Mount Gambier just over the SA border. Casterton lays claim to be the birthplace of the breed of working dog known as the kelpie, a Scottish term meaning 'Water Sprite' and a name given to a black and tan working collie owned by Scotsman George Patterson, a farmer who lived north of Casterton in the 1870s. For over 20 years the Casterton community has embraced its local icon, the Kelpie, by celebrating the Australian Kelpie Muster over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June each year.
