The quaintly named Come-By-Chance is a town on the Baradine Creek in New South Wales in the Pilliga district of the state, situated about 60 miles north of Coonabarabran. The small town developed when George and William Colless decided to develop a station where sheep owners could meet, naming it Come-By-Chance because not many passers-by could believe that there would be a sheep station in such a remote area. He later went on to own most of the town, including the hotel, police station and post office, and later a significant part of the cemetery. Even today the population of the town barely numbers 200 inhabitants, but it holds its own popular race meetings at Gleneda, owned by the Allerton family, advertised as the Come-By-Chance Picnic Races administered by the Come-By-Chance Race Club, with the highlight of the meeting being the Come-By-Chance Picnic Cup over 1400 metres. |
The earliest record of racing in the town in the modern era was in 1947 after a committee had met in 1946 to discuss the possibility of forming a new Race Club. However, there was racing in the latter part of the 19th century and early days of the 20th century on an original racecourse at the rear of the village on the old stock route, on land owned by William Colless. The inaugural meeting took place on 10th October 1894 when the feature races were the Opening Handicap over 1 mile, and the Come-by-chance Handicap over 1 ¼ miles. The Handicapper in those early days was Mr W C Quinton, The next year the registration of Come-by-Chance races took place in April, with the Come-by-Chance Jockey Club organising proceedings. The next year the meeting was held on 1st January 1896 when there was a tragic incident. Fireman broke his neck during a race and died immediately, while his rider Mr D’Arcy Evans died a few days later. The 1899 meeting was staged on Wednesday 12th July 1899, with the card consisting of a number of Handicaps, selected results being shown below:- |
Recent Come-By-Chance Picnic Cup winners
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2007 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup meeting was not held due to the outbreak of Equine Flu
2008 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($3,500) over 1400 metres was won by Miss Watanabe (6/4 fav) trained by Colin Edgar and ridden by Mr C Lundholm, beating Faux Pas and Wishyouweremine
2009 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($3,500) over 1400 metres was won by Prince Raheed (5/4 fav) trained by Kylie Kennedy and ridden by Mr C Lundholm, beating Faux Pas and Stormy Skies
2010 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($2,800) over 1400 metres was won by Time Shift (2/1 fav) trained by Geoff O’Brien and ridden by Mr M Scorse, beating Laguna Madre and Slave King 6 ran
2011 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($3,850) over 1400 metres was won by Segovian (5/2) trained by Graham Shields and ridden by Ms J Lindgren, beating Noble Heart and Kalkie Miss
2012 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($5,600) over 1400 metres was won by Find Your Manners (15/8 fav) trained by Peter Finn and ridden by Mr B Ryan, beating Cloudcraft and Bradgate Park
2013 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($5,600) over 1400 metres was won by Benny Blue Eyes (5/2) trained by Lindsey Kennedy and ridden by Rebeka Prest, beating Panov and Kalkie Miss 5 ran
2014 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($5,600) over 1400 metres was won by Mr Corone (7/4 fav) trained by Rodney Robb and ridden by Tim Phillips, beating Shen Long and Summa Cum Sadie 6 ran
2015 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($5,600) over 1400 metres was won by Centabeel (4/1) trained by Kylie Kennedy and ridden by A Barton, beating Right of Reply and Easyaye 7 ran
2016 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup meeting was abandoned
2017 The Come-by-Chance Picnic Cup, more widely known as the P J O’Brien Memorial Cup, ($5,600) over 1400 metres was won by Rusty Motorbike (5/2) trained by Rodney Robb and ridden by Maddison Wright, beating Beau In Chains and Track Flash |
