Racing Gunnedah’s oldest sport

There is very little available information on the early days of horse racing in the Gunnedah district, although it appears that, by the 1860s, the sport of kings was becoming popular in the area. The first course was on an area referred to as the Black Hill on the Curlewis Road but in the 1870s an area of 96 acres was granted by the government for the establishment of a racecourse on an area of thick hopwood-scrub which later became the showground. The original trustees of the area were Robert John Nowland, principal of the coaching company, hotel-keepers Patrick Hurley and Mark Turner, John Edward Higgins and Thomas Henry Buckley McGee.

The early star of racing was Mr F. Lynch’s mare Black Swan, which won three races over a two-day meeting in March 1879 – the Town Plate, worth 50 sovereigns with a sweepstake of three sovereigns each on the first day and the Members’ Purse of 30 sovereigns; the Forced Handicap of 10 sovereigns with a sweepstake of two sovereigns, on the second day. The second and third wins came in successive races. In aggregate over the two days, Black Swan raced four-and-a- half miles. The mare nearly recorded a similar feat at Newcastle races, winning two and finishing third in the other.

Early owners included Nowland, TK Abbott, F. Lynch, A. Loder, T. Phillips, F. Guest, E. Eather and JB Clift, joined later by Robert Doolan, JL Cushan, John Cobb, Ned Ball and Teddy Browne. John Cobb raced Old Clo, which ran second in the Summer Cup at Randwick and won the Tattersalls Cup a few days later. Old Clo afterwards was sent to England but was not a success there.

Old records show race secretaries included TK Abbott, JH King, F. Hinds, M. Berry, H. Ayling, H. Hogarth, JI Links, W. LeCussan and DC Owens. Most of these were professional men and Hogarth a solicitor, was Mayor of the town for several years.

The Gunnedah Jockey Club was the first to offer free railage to horse-owners, as an incentive for nominations, a practice which was later widely adopted. When it was introduced, there were record nominations and extra stalls had to be erected.

There was a period of controversy in racing in the early 1900s when a group of racing enthusiasts advocated the sale of the area, because of the stony nature of the ground, and its relocation to a more “suitable” location.

Apart from the Gunnedah Jockey Club, racing was carried on by the Gunnedah Picnic Race Club and by the Grand United and Manchester Unity Lodges in the early 1900s. The lodges were keenly interested in pony races, conducting meetings and raising funds for charitable purposes. The Diggers’ Race Club was also extremely active between the wars, organising several meetings through the year.

In the 1940s the jockey club and other users of the showground area agreed to the transfer of the racecourse to make way for the establishment of technical and secondary education facilities and with local member RG Hamilton taking a prominent role, a large area of the Gunnedah Common was set aside for racing purposes off the Tamworth Road. From the hard, flinty ground to the softer soil close to the Namoi River, the move was greeted with enthusiasm by racing supporters and by the Picnic Race Club and Diggers’ Race Club, which greatly assisted the Gunnedah Jockey Club in establishing the Riverside course.

The Gunnedah Amateur Picnic Race Club was formed in 1888 but the earliest available records refer to the fourth meeting on May 29, 1891. The president that year was Irving Winter, the secretary John M. Bacon, treasurer Robert Hogg and judge THH Goodwin.

There were eight races during the day at intervals of 45 minutes over distances racing from six furlongs to one-and-a-half miles. The second race was the Namoi Trot over two miles, apparently for owners of buggy horses. The event was won by JM Bacon’s Darby, which started 350 metres behind scratch. The winning time was six minutes 50 seconds.

In the late 1890s the club began holding two-day meetings, occasionally extending to a third, and the picnics became the social highlight of the year. Members and their guests from all the surrounding stations arrived in their buggies and pairs – and from even further afield, as far away as Coonamble, Scone, Murrurundi, Moonbi, Tamworth and Sydney. The hotels were always packed and billiard rooms were even used to bed down the overflow. Everyone set out to have a good time and practical jokes were the order of the day.

Among the early owners were well- known names such as McMaster, Simson, Melvil, Clonan, Brown, Bacon, Clift, Keen, Willsallen, Mackellar, Mackenzie, Cobb, Gillham, Sinclair, Thomson, Kelly, Keys, Murchison, Nicholls and Links.

In 1915 the club decided to devote proceeds of the meeting to war funds. Business houses closed for two half-days and wives and members provided the suppers for the ball to boost funds. Proceeds amount to 401 pounds 10 shillings.

There were no further meetings through the war years and interest was slow to develop in the 1920s. In 1925 the course was in such a bad state owners would not risk their horses on it and in 1926 the club raced at Carroll and the following year on a paddock across the river. The Jockey Club then took on the improvement of the course and the Picnic Race Club helped in meeting the cost of laying water to the track.

The Great Depression of the 1930s dealt a severe blow to most country race clubs but the Picnic Race Club continued to function. The minutes record that in 1930 it was decided “not to refuse admittance to alleged undesirables but to eject if their conduct warranted”. The 1938 minutes record the club’s intention to “give members a good and better time than last year”. In 1946 the liquor order comprised 11 dozen whiskey, 12 dozen gin, six dozen sherry and 15 18-gallon kegs of beer. Beer prices were ninepence, spirits one shilling. The meeting had apparently retained its popularity after the war, with 1200 racebooks printed in 1950 and 50 bookmakers in attendance in 1953.

Committee of Gunnedah Jockey Club 1929. Back left, Bill Baker, Bill Sheehan, Frank Lane (Tamworth, official starter), Harold Grace, JP Bryen, H. Konz, Ted Tindall, Reg Broun senior. Front, Charlie Nicholas, Bill Nivison, Mick Campbell, Orie Aitken, Stan McDonagh and Roger Bowen.