In June last year a mild mannered biped male (an IT consultant nontheless) by the name of Huw Lobb out-ran four-legged equine Kay Bee Jay and in doing so put a giant hole in the accounts of bookmaker William Hill, who had promised £25,000 (at odds of 16/1) to any human who could do it.

According to the Observor, some 47 horses and riders lined up against nearly 500 people and relay teams in the gruelling 22-mile race in what claims to be Britain's smallest town. No human running alone had ever been able to defeat a horse in the 25 years the race has been run. The closest was four years ago when Mark Croasdale came within 90 seconds.

Lobb, however, (no stranger to long distance running having taken fourth prize in the London marathon - and narrowly missing a place on the British Olympics team) smashed the record by more than two minutes. As the reporter commented: "Cynics may compare the feat to cheese-rolling or lawn mower-racing rather than the four-minute mile, but he will have the last laugh as the prize money has been increased by £1,000 each year after remaining unclaimed".

Lobb is not the only human winner in the battle between man and horse. Following his Olympic Gold in 1936, American sprinter Jesse Owens competed in a 100-yard exhibition race against a thoroughbred - and won.

But William Hill had lost £25,000 and our equine heroes needed urgent reinstatement as the 'king of the turf' so in the same month the man was replaced with a retired greyhound - Tiny Tim - and the racehorse, a 6-year old gelding, triumphed to claim the crown of fastest animal in the racing world.

Moree Race Club has also decided on the Horse vs Human approach to attract people to its Easter Saturday meeting on March 26.

Princess Os, runner-up behind Saranac in last year's Moree Cup will match strides with Moree Services Cycling and Triathlon Club relay runners Grant Custance and John Shepherd at the Easter Saturday meeting.

MRC secretary Bill Poulos said the concept arose after throwing ideas around with Moree jockey Jim Bryans, a cycling and triathlon club member.

"I'm pretty sure this type of thing has been done in Australia in the past, but after much asking around and internet searching, I couldn't find any reference to it," Poulos said

'The Princess', to be ridden by Jim Bryans, will start at the 300m while Custance and Shepherd will each run 75m from the 150m mark.

Bill said the match-race had created quite a bit of interest in Moree - and further afield - since first organised early last week.

'It should be a great spectacle, a lot of people are talking about it,' Poulos said.

The match-race will be held with Shepherd and Custance racing in two 75m divisions while Princess Os, owned by Warren and Marina Wiggins, will start from the 300m mark.

She will carry 55kg - standard weight-for-age for a six-year-old mare - and be ridden by Bryans.

"At full speed, a horse can run roughly twice as fast as a human, so the first relay runner will start at the 150 mark and the horse a further 150m back," Poulos said. "In theory, we should see something very close to a dead-heat, although I think many punters would like to be on Princess Os."

Princess Os, a six-year-old mare trained on the track by Peter Sinclair, finished second behind Saranac in last year's Moree Cup. She ended her last campaign in late November with a half-length second behind Eyes Forever at Toowoomba.

She won three in a row at Walcha, Grafton and Toowoomba early last year and rarely misses earning prize money, Poulos said.

"Princess Os has been back in work since February 1 and is a very smart horse," he said.

"She has won five times and been placed 19 times against good company."

Athletes John Shepherd and Grant Custance are no slouches either.

Custance, a 28-year-old middle-distance runner, won the half-marathon at Mudgee last year while Shepherd, 38, represented NSW at schoolboy level.

"I'm not the quickest runner around, more of a stayer," Custance laughed. "And Princess Os is no nag, she goes all right.

"We'll probably go out to the track and have a few practice runs beforehand but I think I'll do the first half and let John sprint the second half," he said.

As a teenager, Shepherd traveled extensively to athletics' carnivals across the State, but now competes over longer distances.

"I used to be a sprinter but as I've got older it's progressed to longer and slower runs," he said.