Mourners gathered from around the country last Friday for the funeral of much loved Nyngan woman Shirley Trothe who died on June 3.

Mrs Trothe, 80, wouldn’t leave the world without a parting gift, encouraging her favourite horse to run a place on the day of her funeral. 

“It was really emotional, everyone was saying how Shirley did it, Shirley got the horse to run third and I knew it was true,” son Peter Trothe said.

At the wake, Mr Trothe, asked everyone to back the The Viriginian, one of Mrs Trothe’s favourite horses, which was running at Eagle Farm, Queensland. 

“I asked everyone, if you’ve got a spare $10 or $20. have it each-way on the Virginian in memory of mum,” he said. 

Everyone dug into the pockets, some people putting on as little as $5 or $10 and others betting as much as $100 or $200. 

Even so, Mr Trothe was surprised when the horse’s odds were slashed from $200 to $80 due to the bets coming in from the Nyngan TAB.

When it became obvious the horse was in with a chance of winning, the entire club was cheering it on. 

Mr Trothe, who has been to many horse races in his time, said the yelling coming out of the Nyngan RSL would rival any Melbourne Cup day. 

“It nearly lifted the roof off the club,” he said. 

Since the funeral the story of the mourners who changed the odds has gone viral, showing up on news websites as far away as the United Kingdom. 

It began with an interview with the TAB.

“It’s unbelievable, a real honour for mum and a great tribute,” Mr Trothe said. 

Despite the rumours, the TAB at the Nyngan RSL did not run out of money and was able to pay winners in full on the day of the funeral.