The New South Wales town of Narromine, on the Macquarie River, lies at the centre of the Narromine Shire about 25 miles west of the city of Dubbo. It enjoys good transport links with the rest of the state, the Mitchell Highway passing through the town. The original inhabitants of the region gave the town its name which means ‘honey person, but the earliest European to pass close to the district was the famous explorer John Oxley. Today the town of Narromine has a population of about 3,900 and has its own racecourse which is used by both the Narromine Turf and Jockey Club and the Mungery Picnic Race Club. The earliest reference to racing in Narromine was in May 1894 when the Narromine Picnic Turf Club registration was accepted by the Austrlian Jockey Club. They held a meeting the next year on Saturday 1st June 1895 when the Opening Handicap was won by Sandy, while the feature Narromine Picnic Handicap went to Presto owned by Mr Canon, beating Arab and Fret Not. |
In 1901, under the Presidency of Mr E P Cahill, ably supported by Vice-Presidents Mr James Nelson and Me Walter Cohen, the annual races took place on Wednesday 6th March 1901 and were a much-heralded success.
Wednesday 6th March 1901
Narromine Jockey Club Handicap (25 sovereigns) over 1 mile
1. Goldbust (4/6 fav) owned by Mr W Daley
2. Ruy Blas (5/1) owned by Mr C Alderman
3. Ingomar (2/1) owned by Mr W P Ruther
9 ran |
The highlight of the racing year for the Narromine Turf Club is the Narromine Gold Cup over 1600 metres traditionally run on the second Sunday in August.
Recent winners of the Narromine Gold Cup
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2008 Narromine Gold Cup ($16,900) over 1600 metres was won by Sports City (11/2) trained by Jim McMillan and ridden by Adrian Robinson, beating Prince Raheed and Generous Huka 12 ran
2009 Narromine Gold Cup ($13,650) over 1600 metres was won by Sports City (7/1) trained by Jim McMillan and ridden by James Geppert, beating Talulla and Perfect Rule 13 ran
2010 Narromine Gold Cup ($13,650) over 1600 metres was won by Orpenitcarnappen (5/1) trained by Peter Nestor and ridden by Brad Clark, beating Flogsdream and Dane’s Jewel 10 ran
2011 Narromine Gold Cup ($13,650) over 1600 metres was won by Pesci (7/2) trained by Mack Griffith and ridden by Roly Saxton, beating Open Skies and Antidotes 13 ran
2012 Narromine Gold Cup ($15,020) over 1600 metres was won by General Hirad (10/1) trained by Frank Hayes and ridden by Mathew Cahill, beating Gold Sultan and Cosmic Fury 12 ran
2013 Narromine Gold Cup ($15,020) over 1600 metres was won by Mossamine (13/8 fav) trained by Clint Lundholm and ridden by Anthony Cavallo, beating Kinetics and Arwoc 9 ran
2014 Narromine Gold Cup ($15,020) over 1600 metres was won by Socks The Fox (9/4) trained by Cameron Crockett and ridden by Mathew Cahill, beating Double Halo and Storm Runner 8 ran
2015 Narromine Gold Cup ($15,020) over 1600 metres was won by At Twilight (30/1) trained by Tara and Philippe Vigouroux and ridden by Claire Nutman, beating Two Penny Blue and Laugharne 11 ran
2016 Narromine Gold Cup ($26,075) over 1600 metres was won by Playing Game (11/4) trained by Dar Lunn and ridden by Greg Ryan, beating Leucura and Letchworth 14 ran
2017 Narromine Gold Cup ($25,200) over 1600 metres was won by A Magic Zariz (15/4) trained by Cecil Hodgson and ridden by Chelsea Ings, beating Leucura and Present Sense 10 ran |
