The New South Wales town of Holbrook enjoys good transport links as it is on the Hume Highway in the Greater Hume Shire area of the state. It is some 240 miles north-east of Melbourne and just over 300 miles south-west of state capital Sydney. The area was originally inhabited by the Wiradjuri people until the explorers Hume and Hovell travelled to the area in 1824. Today the small town has a population of almost 1800 people who benefit from their own racecourse where racing is administered by the Holbrook Turf Club. However, racing was certainly taking place in the town at the start of the 20th century, although during the First World War an AGM was held on Saturday 4th December 1915 to discuss future meetings, while in March 1916 the Holbrook Amateur Picnic Race Club agreed that the time was not appropriate to hold a picnic race meeting and abandoned the event until further notice. Racing did eventually return, although meetings lapsed during the Second World War. The Holbrook Picnic Race Club did hold a meeting on Friday 10th May 1940 in aid of the Holbrook Patriotic and War Fund. The principal race, the President’s Cup, was won by Radiant Gold (8/1), beating Skilton Wood (6/1) and Easterndale (10/1). |
Traditionally the annual meeting takes place on the second Saturday in April and features the Holbrook Cup over 1400 metres.
Recent Holbrook Cup winners
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2009 Holbrook Cup ($6,300) over 1400 metres was won by Trevbar (9/2) trained by Trevor Sutherland and ridden by Bryan Murphy, beating Larrikin Joe and Loughlan Lad 7 ran
2010 Holbrook Cup ($6,300) over 1400 metres was won by Larrikin Joe (11/4) trained by M A Hulme and ridden by Joel Maconachie, beating Lacryma Star and Bronze Aussie 9 ran
2011 Holbrook Cup ($6,300) over 1400 metres was won by Microchip Lad (5/1) trained by Phil Sweeney and ridden by A Stead, beating Kimorra and Gandalf The White 10 ran
2012 Holbrook Cup ($6,300) over 1400 metres was won by Hillbilly Dancer (5/1) trained by Sylvia Thompson and ridden by John Kissick, beating L’Aubaine and Three Buddies 11 ran
2013 Holbrook Cup ($6,460) over 1400 metres was won by Malebo Magic (12/1) trained by Jim Scott and ridden by Richard Bensley, beating Soward and Thetoppie 12 ran
2014 Holbrook Cup was abandoned
2015 Holbrook Cup ($6,460) over 1400 metres was won by He’s An Angel (9/4) trained by Brian Cox and ridden by Jason Collins, beating Mineral Deposit and Prints 7 ran
2016 Holbrook Cup ($6,460) over 1400 metres was won by Imperious (4/1) trained by Chris Heywood and ridden by Nick Heywood, beating Never Pegasus and Bringenbrong 12 ran
2017 Holbrook Cup ($6,540) over 1400 metres was won by Razzle Dazzle Rock (9/1) trained by Malcolm Jarvis and ridden by Bradley Vale, beating With Authority and Kinselmac Manner 8 ran |
