The New South Wales town of Merriwa lies in the Upper Hunter Shire of the state, accessed via the Golden Highway. It is located about 170 miles north-west of the state capital Sydney, mid-way between the cities of Newcastle and Dubbo. It has a population of about 1850 inhabitants and enjoys its own racecourse where racing is administered by the Merriwa Race Club. The earliest record of racing in the town was in May 1866 when a two day meeting was staged on Thursday 24th and Friday 25th May, with key results shown below.

Thursday 24th May 1866
Merriwa Maiden Plate (25 sovereigns) over 1 ½ miles
1. Sir Charles owned by Mr W Clark
2. Dora owned by Mr J McDonald
3. Merriwa Lad owned by Mr W Tuite
7 ran
Publican’s Purse (15 sovereigns) over 1 ½ miles
1. Selina owned by Mr W Gallagher
2. Newmarket owned by Mr T Braggett
3. Grey Linnet owned by Mr G Watkins
5 ran
Friday 25th May 1866
Squatters’ Purse (15 sovereigns) over 2 miles
1. Selina owned by Mr W Gallagher
2. Dora owned by Mr J McDonald
3. Newmarket owned by Mr T Braggett
Merriwa Town Plate (25 sovereigns) over 3 miles
1. True Blue owned by Mr J McDonald
2. Selina owned by Mr W Gallagher
3. Ackbar owned by Mr T Adams

The next year reporters praised the races but not the town, writing, ’The usually dull town of Merriwa was enlivened by 3 days of good racing, and it is only to be regretted that, seeing its capabilities of bonhomie, it should be allowed to relapse into its torpid condition, as is most probable until the next race meeting’. The meeting was held from Wednesday 12th to Friday 14th June 1867, and feature race results are shown below.
Wednesday 12th June 1867
Merriwa Opening Maiden Plate (30 sovereigns) over 1 ½ miles
1. Zela owned by Mr J White
2. Nutmeg owned by Mr W Kirk
3. Stork owned by Mr T Adams
Merriwa District Purse (25 sovereigns) over 2 miles
1. Deception owned by Mr W Piper
2. Cannon Ball owned by Mr J B Bettington
3. True Blue owned by Mr T Adams
Thursday 13th June 1867
Merriwa Town Plate (40 sovereigns) over 3 miles
1. True Blue owned by Mr T Adams
2. Selina owned by Mr W Kirk
3. Cannon Ball owned by Mr J B Bettington
Friday 14th June 1867
Merriwa Visitors’ Purse (20 sovereigns) over 1 ¼ miles
1. Alice owned by Mr J McDonald
2. True Blue owned by Mr T Adams
3. Nutmeg owned by Mr W Kirk

Moving forward almost a century to the middle of the 20th century, the newly formed Merriwa Race Club held its inaugural meeting in May 1951 and were rewarded with a crowd of almost 100 people. The meeting was in aid of the Returned Soldiers League, and the main event was the Merriwa Cup which drew a field of 9. The Cup, valued at £10 10s, came with a first prize of £130 and was presented to Mr J A Melvil, owner of Vi Vi, by Mrs M Vincent, wife of the Club’s President. In the race Viv Vi beat Otley and Galahad.

The next year, at the committee meeting in June 1952 the President of the Race Club questioned the wisdom of spending more money on the local racecourse, whilst acknowledging it was in a reasonable condition, Mr Vincent  contended that it was unsuitable for the public as they were on the inside looking out, when they should be on the outside looking in. Two proposals were put forward:-
(i) to secure another course in Merriwa;
(ii) to negotiate the use of Muswellbrook racecourse.
It was resolved that the executive approach the Muswellbrook Club.

The current racecourse is about 3 kilometres south-east of the town centre and hosts the Merriwa Cup over 1350 metres which is traditionally run on the last Saturday in April.
Recent Merriwa Cup winners
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2009 Merriwa Cup ($6,500) over 1350 metres was won by Rolling Rich (9/1) trained by Stuart Phegan and ridden by Nicholas Perrett, beating Belter Jetsetter and Stashed Away 6 ran
2010 Merriwa Cup ($6,500) over 1350 metres was won by Silver Street (4/1) trained by Bill Farrow and ridden by M Squires, beating Chatterchic and Helene Brilliant 8 ran
2011 Merriwa Cup ($7,800) over 1350 metres was won by Yahiguru (3/1) trained by Greg Bennett and ridden by Greg Ryan, beating Dustharson and Lifeboat 8 ran
2012 Merriwa Cup ($7,800) over 1350 metres was won by Temperate Prince (11/4) trained by Robbie Harrison and ridden by James Geppert, beating Flaming Circle and Cloudcraft 11 ran
2013 Merriwa Cup ($8,645) over 1350 metres was won by I’m In The Money (5/4 fav) trained by Jeff Englebrecht and ridden by Leanne Henry, beating Keep It Danish and I Love Legs 7 ran
2014 Merriwa Cup ($8,645) over 1350 metres was won by Latitat (100/30) trained by Stafford Wain and ridden by Daniel Pitomac, beating Star of Dubai and Power Shot 7 ran
2015 Merriwa Cup ($8,645) over 1350 metres was won by Pippi’s Pride (5/1) trained by Stephen Gleeson and ridden by Marlon Dolendo, beating Buckle Me Up and Sambora 9 ran
2016 Merriwa Cup ($8,645) over 1350 metres was won by Bench Star (4/1) trained by Damien Lane and ridden by Jackson Murphy, beating So You Know and What A Racquet 11 ran
2017 Merriwa Cup meeting was abandoned

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