COWRA RACECOURSE |
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The New South Wales town of Cowra lies in the Central West region of the state, some 195 miles south-west of Sydney and about 120 miles north of Canberra. The region was first inhabited by the Aboriginal Wiradjuri tribe, with the earliest European explorers discovering the area in 1815 when George William Evans entered the Lachlan Valley. Although he did not rate the area as a place to settle, he did name the Oxley Plains after his fellow explorer John Oxley. It was to be a further three decades before the town started to develop, firstly in 1844 when known as Coura Rocks, and then in 1847 it was named Cowra. The earliest record of racing in the town was on Easter Monday 1850 when a £15 Purse was the highlight of the card. Within 5 years the meeting had become fully established when a 3 day meeting from Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th October 1855 was staged. Principal race results on each day of that meeting are shown below. |
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Local Patrons | Cowra Jockey Club, Cowra Picnic Race Club |
Principal Races | Cowra Cup, Cowra Town Plate, Cowra Hurdle |
Tuesday 9th October 1855 |
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By the turn of the century at least two meetings were held annually, organised by the Cowra Jockey Club. On Easter Monday and Tuesday a 2 day meeting was watched by over 1000 people when the feature race was the Cowra Jockey Club Easter Handicap. |
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After the end of the First World War the Cowra Gold Cup was the highlight of the racing year in the area. |
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Today the population of the town is in excess of 10,000 and continues to operate its own highly successful racecourse, where races are administered by the Cowra Jockey Club, although the Cowra Picnic Race Club also hosts meetings. The track stages at least 5 meetings annually; the highlight of the racing year is the October meeting when the Cowra Cup is held over 1700 metres, although in 2018 it took place on Sunday 21st January. |
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Recent winners of the Cowra Cup |
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Course today | The racecourse continues to operate very successfully. |
If you have photos, postcards, racecards. badges, newspaper cuttings or book references about the old course, or can provide a photo of how the ground on which the old racecourse stood looks today, then email johnwslusar@gmail.com |
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ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3 652 pages 774 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0 352 pages 400 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7 180 pages 140 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4 264 pages 235 former courses |
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Copies of the above books are only available by emailing johnwslusar@gmail.com stating your requirements, method of payment (cheque payable to W.Slusar) or Bank transfer, and the address where the book(s) should be sent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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