The New South Wales area of Cooma-Monaro is located in the Monaro region of the state and was established as early as 1879. The Shire of Cooma-Monaro now includes Bombala and Snowy River, and has its own successful racecourse, with races first mooted in 1856. The first committee meeting to promote Cooma Races was held on 1st December 1856, with a follow-up meeting at Mr Ward’s Inn on Monday 5th January 1857. The inaugural race meeting was scheduled to take place in March 1857 and, in the end, a 3 day meeting was staged from Tuesday 17th to Thursday 19th March, with race details shown below.

Tuesday 17th March 1857 (St Patrick’s Day)
Opening Maiden Plate £70 over 1 ½ miles
1. Stranger owned by Mr Thompson and ridden by aboriginal Charley
2. Sir Robert owned by Mr J Williams and ridden by Lawler
3. Clear The Road owned by Mr Prendergast and ridden by Kiss
4. Charles O’Malley owned by Mr A Cripp and ridden by Edgar
Cooma Town Plate £75 over twice round
1. Crab owned by Mr Williams and ridden by Lawler
2. Mentor owned by Mr C Wright and ridden by Kiss
3. Rory O’More owned by Mr J Ward and ridden by Blackfellow.
Results from Wednesday 18th March 1857
Welter Stakes £40 Spring Jack owned by Mr C Wright
Hack Stakes £20 Pop Goes The Weasel owned by Mr A Davidson
Hurdle Race £40 Bushman owned by Mr E Smith
Results from Thursday 19th March 1857
Squatters Purse £75 Spring Jack owned by Mr J Wright
Two Year Old Stakes Black Swan owned by Mr C Wright
Consolation Stakes £25 Snipe owned by Mr A Crisp
Forced Handicap £20 Vanity owned by Mr J Harnett

By the turn of the century the principal race was the Cooma Town Plate over 1 mile 1 furlong. Early winners are shown below:-
1900 Cooma Town Plate (35 sovereigns) over 1 mile 1 furlong was won by Coin (5/4) owned by Mr A J Lynch and ridden by Byrnes, beating Disturber (Evens fav) and Della (6/1) 5 ran
1901 Cooma Town Plate (35 sovereigns) over 1 ¼ miles was won by Thessalian owned by Mr W F Darragh and ridden by T O’Keefe, beating Counterpoint and Union Jack
1902 Cooma Town Plate over 1 mile 1 furlong was won by Smokedrift owned by Mr W Ball, beating Winoline and First Water
1903 Cooma Town Plate over 1 mile 1 furlong was won by Palmist owned by Mr G Massey and ridden by J McFarlane, beating Ivy and Willie 6 ran
1904 Cooma Town Plate (40 sovereigns) over 1 mile 1 furlong was won by Huret Rose owned by Mr R Wilson, beating Bernie and Elmo

Today the annual race meeting is held on the Ti Tree racecourse on the first Saturday in December and has, in the past, featured the Cooma Cup over 1600 metres, although for the past couple of decades the card has also include ‘The Sundowner Cup’. The Sundowner Maiden Cup, over 1400 metres, is named in honour of ‘The Sundowners’ a 1959 movie, starring Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr and Peter Ustinov, which was shot in Cooma and Adaminaby. It was the idea of businessman and deputy Mayor Roger Norton and was initially contested over 1200 metres.

Recent Cooma Cup winners
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2008 The Cooma Cup ($6,500) over 1600 metres was won by Gangleri (4/1) trained by Darryl Rolfe and ridden by Kevin Sweeney, beating Cellular and Glencampbell Miss 7 ran
2009 The Cooma Cup ($6,500) over 1600 metres was won by Sebony (6/4 fav) trained by Chris Strickland and ridden byKevin Sweeney, beating Regal Celeb and Pass It On 5 ran
2010 The Cooma Cup ($6,500) over 1600 metres was won by Jymcarew (16/1) trained by Amanda Collings and ridden by Ms L Wray, beating Strike Me Happy and Mr Massee 7 ran
2011 The Cooma Cup ($6,500) over 1600 metres was won by Celtic Soul (9/2) trained by Rado Boljun and ridden by Annelise King, beating Fullerton and Gypsy Jack 7 ran
2012 The Cooma Cup ($7,420) over 1600 metres was won by Sebony (9/4) trained by Chris Strickland and ridden by Kristen Smart, beating Back To Zero and Granite Bluff 5 ran
2013 The Cooma Cup ($7,420) over 1600 metres was won by Sebony (3/1) trained by Chris Strickland and ridden by Neil Perryman, beating Big Red Cat and Ultima Chance 8 ran
2014 The Cooma Cup was abandoned
2015 The Cooma Cup ($7,420) over 1600 metres was won by Asclepius (6/4 fav) trained by Len Hodgson and ridden by Chelsea MacFarlane, beating Short Stay and Brimstone 9 ran
2016 The Cooma Cup ($7,500) over 1600 metres was won by Imminent (3/1) trained by Matthew Stephens and ridden by Melindra Kinny, beating Girls Own and Attainment 5 ran
2017 The Cooma Cup ($7,400) over 1600 metres was won by Girls Own (11/8 fav) trained by Barbara Joseph and Paul Jones and ridden by Patrick Scorse, beating Layo Layo and Uncle Gerry 4 ran

Recent Sundowner Cup winners
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2008 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($6,500) over 1400 metres was won by Miss Canberra (8/1) trained by Mick Miladinovic and ridden by Shane Pawsey, beating Poker Pro and Spring Storm 9 ran
2009 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($6,500) over 1400 metres was won by Big Noting (14/1) trained by Jim Scobie and ridden by R Sue-San, beating Call Me Combo and Sudden Fame 10 ran
2010 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($6,500) over 1400 metres was won by Four My Girls (5/1) trained by John Nisbet and ridden by Roly Saxton, beating How Discreet and Little Hawk 7 ran
2011 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($6,500) over 1400 metres was won by Ain’t Half Hot (5/2) trained by Neville Layt and ridden by Michael Travers, beating Circuit and Safa Park Girl 11 ran
2012 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($7,420) over 1400 metres was won by Mugga Lane (5/2) trained by Aaron Clarke and ridden by Winona Costa, beating Millset and King Mini 8 ran
2013 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($7,420) over 1400 metres was won by Balinese Boy (11/4) trained by Shane Kember and ridden by Richard Basley, beating Morshead and Stevo’s Regret 9 ran
2014 The Sundowner Maiden Cup meeting was abandoned
2015 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($7,420) over 1400 metres was won by Impulse (7/1) trained by Grant Bobbu and ridden by Shelley Walsh, beating Biographical and Ghost Bunny 12 ran
2016 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($7,500) over 1400 metres was won by Ay Oh Whey Oh (5/4 fav) trained by Barbara Joseph and Paul Jones and ridden by Rachel Hunt, beating Everly Girl and Luckier 7 ran
2017 The Sundowner Maiden Cup ($7,400) over 1400 metres was won by Orsippus (9/4) trained by Kevin Byrne and ridden by Kacie Adams, beating The Revenant and Bumbunga 6 ran

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774 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0

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400 former courses

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ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4

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