The New South Wales town of Coonabarabran, nicknamed Coona for short, lies in the Warrumbungle Shire of the state. The area was first inhabited by the Aboriginal tribe of Kamilaroi, but in 1818 the explorer John Oxley came to the area and the town began to develop. Today it has a population in excess of 3250 inhabitants and has its own thriving racecourse where races are administered by the Coonabarabran Jockey Club. Those races were first recorded in 1876 when a two day meeting was staged by the Coonabarabran Turf Club on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th January on a charming course, which was pleasing to the eye, containing 4 booths belonging to 4 different local innkeepers. The first day opened with a Maiden Plate over 1 ½ miles which was won by Industry owned by Mr E Readford. |
By the turn of the century a number of meetings were staged in the town, including meetings in January and March organised by the Amateur Jockey Club, and a meeting in October organised by the Jockey Club. The feature races at the January 1900 meeting were the Castlereagh Handicap over 1 mile, when Termite beat Saturn and Underhand, and the Coonabarabran Handicap over 1 ½ miles when Saturn got the better of Termite and Hillsborough. The year before the Castlereagh Cup was already firmly established on the card and resulted in a win for Mr H Blackman’s Bullomin who defeated Prior and Saltoun. |
Moving forward to the present, the course is extremely well run by the town’s Jockey Club, with the highlight of the racing year being the Connabarabran Cup, normally contested on the fourth Monday in October over 1600 metres.
Recent winners of the Coonabarabran Cup
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2008 Coonabarabran Cup ($18,850) over 1600 metres was won by All Again (7/1) trained by Lesley Jeffriess and ridden by Darren Jones, beating Jet Hawk and Trippy 12 ran
2009 Coonabarabran Cup meeting was abandoned after 2 races because of the dangerous state of the track due to heavy rain
2010 Coonabarabran Cup ($19,500) over 1600 metres was won Izababe (5/6 fav) trained by Peter Nestor and ridden by Kody Nestor, beating Kwilas Law and Prussian Secret 8 ran
2011 Coonabarabran Cup ($19,500) over 1600 metres was won Granite Bluff (5/1) trained by Richard Clarke and ridden by Greg Ryan, beating Counter Spy and Tora Tora Tora 10 ran
2012 Coonabarabran Cup ($23,560) over 1600 metres was won All Again (8/1) trained by Lesley Jeffriess and ridden by Darren Jones, beating Kwilas Law and Are You Sure 10 ran
2013 Coonabarabran Cup ($23,560) over 1600 metres was won Bouzy Rouge (13/8 fav) trained by Luke Griffith and ridden by Greg Ryan, beating Emotional Outburst and Sergeant Bilko 10 ran
2014 Coonabarabran Cup ($23,560) over 1600 metres was won Are You Sure (9/2) trained by Cameron Crockett and ridden by Greg Ryan, beating Private Taber and Dusty’s Felt 8 ran
2015 Coonabarabran Cup meeting was abandoned after 2 races due to heavy rain
2016 Coonabarabran Cup ($25,200) over 1600 metres was won Brilliant Poet (6/4 fav) trained by Leon Davies and ridden by Kaylee Kirkwood, beating Playing Game and Southern Orders 8 ran
2017 Coonabarabran Cup ($24,935) over 1600 metres was won Red Knot (5/2) trained by Rodney Northam and ridden by Serg Lisnyy, beating Rockatorio and Present Sense 10 ran |
