The New South Wales town of Carinda, from the old Aboriginal word meaning ‘you carry’, lies in the far north of the state. It was first discovered by chance by John Oxley and George Evans in 1818 as they drifted down the Macquarie River, but it was a further decade before Charles Stuart fully explored the area. Today the small town has a population of less than 180, yet still manages to galvanise the locals, and crowds from the surrounding towns and villages, to stage an annual race meeting. The popular event is organised by the Carinda and District Race Club, normally racing on the first Saturday in July, and has been calendared since 1915. However, prior to this date the Australian Jockey Club granted registration to the Carinda Jockey Club in 1910, granting permission for a two day meeting to be held on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th July 1910. Around the same time Carinda Amateur races were also being staged. By 1915 there were at least two race meetings scheduled to take place, one organised by the Carinda Picnic Race Club on 15th and 16th March 1915, and a meeting y the Carinda Amateur Turf Club in July 1915. |
The next year a meeting organised by the Carinda Amateur Turf Club was staged on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th March 1916 when the feature races were the Killarney Handicap, the Carinda A T C Handicap and the Polly Brewon Handicap, results of which are shown below:-
Wednesday 15th March 1916
Killarney Handicap over 7 furlongs
1. Jock On Green (1/2 fav) owned by Mr A P Hannah and ridden by G McMahon
2. Orzilane owned by Mr J H Gleadow
2 ran
Carinda Amateur Turf Club Handicap over 1 mile
1. Lockfoot (2/1) owned by Mr A Hannah and ridden by G McMahon
2. Master Charles owned by Mr H Watt and ridden by A Pennells
3. Ghora owned by Mr W Hardy and ridden by W Stuart
4 ran
Polly Brewon Handicap over 6 furlongs
1. Carvean owned by Mr W Priestly and ridden by C Weale
2. Jack On Green owned by Mr A P Hannah and ridden by G McMahon
3. Invadessa owned by Mr B Caton and ridden by G Murphy |
Today the races are administered by the Carinda and District Race Club, with the highlight of the card being the Carinda Cup over 1400 metres.
Recent Carinda Cup winners
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2008 The Carinda Cup ($3,500) over 1400 metres was won by Miss Watanabe (7/1) trained by Colin Edgar and ridden by Greg Ryan, beating Norm’s Boy and Zakeya 6 ran
2009 The Carinda Cup ($3,500) over 1400 metres was won by Gelmood (5/2) trained by P N Ayoub and ridden by James Geppert, beating Written Habit and Local Bred 9 ran
2010 The Carinda Cup ($3,500) over 1400 metres was won by Local Bred (5/2) trained by P J Whitehead and ridden by Michael Hackett, beating Temperate Prince and Nardoola Kid 7 ran
2011 The Carinda Cup ($3,850) over 1400 metres was won by Temperate Prince (5/4 fav) trained by Robbie Harrison and ridden by James Geppert, beating Nampara Bullet and Albertine Rose 7 ran
2012 The Carinda Cup ($4,540) over 1400 metres was won by Temperate Prince (7/4 fav) trained by Robbie Harrison and ridden by Hannah Martin, beating Azarax and Gold Buckle 10 ran
2013 The Carinda Cup ($4,540) over 1400 metres was won by Sergeant Bilko (6/1) trained by Lindsey Kennedy and ridden by Jeff Kehoe, beating Panov and Temperate Prince 7 ran
2014 The Carinda Cup ($4,540) over 1400 metres was won by Ten T Zero (5/2) trained by Garry Lunn and ridden by Glenn Lynch, beating Mr Corone and Sergeant Bilko 8 ran
2015 The Carinda Cup ($4,540) over 1400 metres was won by More Of The Zaim (9/2) trained by Sheree McEwan and ridden by Tiffany Jeffries, beating Crystal Reef and Centabeel 10 ran
2016 The Carinda Cup ($4,540) over 1400 metres was won by Cool Rules (5/2) trained by Peter Sinclair and ridden by Kody Nestor, beating Rusty Motorbike and Vision Retract 7 ran
2017 The Carinda Cup ($4,620) over 1400 metres was won by Naoko (6/1) ridden by Simone Vella, beating Rehanaat and Jesse ‘n’ James 6 ran |
