This is the third of several articles looking at currently active regional tracks of Victoria. A brief review will be taken of the history of a club (previous/closed/current).
Regional track : SHEPPARTON
Shepparton is located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, approximately 181 kms (112 miles) north-northeast of Melbourne. The Shepparton Showgrounds track was opened in 1878, the original circuit being 682 yds.
The Goulburn (Valley) Trotting Club first raced on the Shepparton Showgrounds track in 1953 and from Boxing Day 1955 they raced there under lights.
On 22 October 1964 at the CWA Hall, the Shepparton Trotting Club was constituted. A 100 acre site at £110 per acre alongside the main highway six kms south of the city at Kialla was purchased for the development of a purpose built track. Developed by experienced members of the two existing local clubs, Goulburn Valley and Mooroopna, loans of $100,000 from both the Commercial Banking Corporation and Victorian Trotting Control Board (TCB) were secured to advance the new complex. The land behind the track was turned into a multi-use training facility with an 800m all-weather track with part of the land available for the local pony club at minimum rental.
Following completion of the building project the Shepparton TC was allocated fourteen dates for the 1969/70 season whilst the Goulburn Valley TC was still in control of the licences. In addition, the Mooroopna TC had lost its day licence and been advised to race at the new Kialla venue. Ultimately Mooroopna amalgamated with Shepparton (today Mooroorpna meetings held at Shepparton); in 1969 the TCB directed the amalgamated club to conduct a final meeting at the Showgrounds (18 June 1969) linking all three clubs at the old night racing venue for one final time before Goulburn Valley TC lost its licences.
The inaugural meeting of the Shepparton TC at its new Kialla venue took place on 5 November 1969. The 846m track was well banked, had a 200m straight with modern mostly brick facilities and subsequent improvements to the dining room and bar areas improved the standard for on course patrons. The Shepparton club was to race at Kialla Paceway until 30 January 2004 which included Shepparton Trotters Cup night.
The new Quest Racing Complex located on the old Showground track area was opened on 1 July 2004. Featuring a 1000m harness track and since 2004 the industry, State Government and Greater Shepparton Council have invested approximately $5 million to significantly upgrade the racing track, construct a new dining area and develop an undercover stable complex. In recent years the Kialla Complex has entertained Shepparton Greyhounds who race twice per week on a track built adjoining the harness track, this development included a further $6 million investment in the site.
The Shepparton Harness Racing Club conducts racing at the Kialla Racing Complex approximately forty times per season, predominantly at night. Over thirty of these meetings are the club’s own events and the remainder are meetings hosted for the Kyabram and Mooroopna Clubs, also Wangaratta 2006 – 2011 and on odd occasions in later years. Feature races for the Shepparton HRC include the Group Two Shepparton Gold Cup, Group Three George Gath and Shepparton Trotters Cup.
Regional Track : ST ARNAUD
St Arnaud located in the Wimmera region of Victoria, 244 kms north west of Melbourne. The first recorded trotting event in the St Arnaud area occurred at Avoca on 24 August 1857 when F. Gazzard’s Farmer defeated C. Pearson’s Trantrab by 50 yards over a mile (4 minutes 20 seconds) for £50 a side. Three months later Napier’s mare Isabella won a trot at Tarrengower defeating five others. Similar events were held at Nabarre, Dunolly and Talbot in following years.
People were racing horses in St Arnaud for some time before the formal establishment of the St Arnaud club in October 1867. The town hosted its first official meeting in March 1867 and has a long history of thoroughbred racing. Currently the St Arnaud Racecourse (1600m) hosts just two meetings per year under the banner of the Wimmera Racing Club. The first trotting race at St Arnaud racecourse was held on 16 March 1876 (three mile trot) with a similar handicap trot held on 29 March 1878.
Occasional trotting events continued to be held at the St Arnaud racecourse until a local trotting club was formed. On 6 February 1952 the local show society were informed that a trotting club had been formed. Steps were taken to ear mark a trotting track on a section of Lord Nelson Park, a recreational ground that provided a sports arena for the town. This park was used annually by the A&P society for two days in October and other sports bodies throughout the year. The total complex covers the area where the Lord Nelson Gold Mine had operated until 1915.
Earthworks were required to enable a track to be formed and it wasn’t until late 1954 (November) that St Arnaud TC held its inaugural meeting. The original Lord Nelson Park track was 704m in circumference, narrow and unsuitable for mobile barrier use. Moves were made to extend the track size and in 1990 an upgrade to the current 805m track was achieved. Feature races for the club are the St Arnaud Pacing and Trotting Cups which are held in November.
Regional Track : TERANG
Terang situated in the Shire of Corangamite on the Princes Highway in the Western District of Victoria, 212 kms (132 miles) south west of Melbourne. Horse racing in Terang began in 1859 at the local track (which is now recreation reserve and the Terang Racing Club was formed in 1868.
The first recorded trotting race occurred at nearby Mortlake on 29 December 1866 while Warrnambool hosted the next trot in the Western Districts on 24 March 1875. Harness racing began in Terang on New Year’s Day 1895 when the holiday meeting at the local racing club featured a two mile trot contested by seven starters. Over the course of the next seventeen years races were held sporadically at the Terang racecourse and at racecourses in neighbouring townships. The Grandstand built late in the 19th century which runs almost the length of the straight replaced a predecessor destroyed by fire.
On Saturday 2 March 1912, the Terang Trotting Club was formed at a meeting of forty local enthusiasts at the O’Hagen’s Hotel, Terang. A twelve man committee was established while the first meeting of five events was held at Terang Racecourse (1¼m) on Thursday 28 March 1912. These events were a Trial trot, District trot, Open handicap and two pony races. The clubs second annual meeting was held on Thursday 27 February 1913.
Over the following decades the Terang TC grew in membership and held many regular meetings. It was the first club in Victoria to race after the end of the Second World War and the first to establish its own racing headquarters.
A 1948 harness meeting was to feature the appearance of Noble Scott, this was cancelled at last minute by the Terang Racing Club owing to wet weather and the possibility of the track being cut up. This incident led to a dispute between the two clubs and resulted in the Terang TC resolving to establish their own track on an area once known as Heffernan’s Paddock. Within six weeks of the survey and subsequent purchase of the site (£1,750 and much voluntary labour), a half mile circuit (810m), forty feet wide, with half furlong straights was constructed in time for the inaugural meeting on Saturday 5 February 1949 at Dalvai Raceway.
In 1954 the track surface was upgraded to sand from the original cinders. The Trotting Control Board assisted the Terang TC with funding for track lights while working bees of members and local enthusiasts erected all the poles. This was the first exclusively owned harness racing course to install a modern side lighting system. The first night meeting was held on New Year’s Night 1955 attracting approximately 8000 spectators.
In 1977 the track lighting system was upgraded to provide greater visibility for spectators and television cameras. In 1982 the Terang TC became the Terang HRC and in the same year the Dalvui Patrons Stand and the horse stalls were completed. In 1988 the Terang HRC was Incorporated and the new Gammalite winning post unveiled. On Life Members night Tuesday 7 February 1995 a new administrative building containing the secretary’s office, drivers rooms, stewards room, TAB, and dining facilities was opened. In 2003 the track was redeveloped and extended from 810m to 1000m in length to its current configuration.
The club’s annual feature races are the Group Two Terang Pacing and Group Three Terang Trotters Cups held in February.
Regional Track : WANGARATTA
Wangaratta located in northeast Victoria, 236 km (147 miles) from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. Racing began in 1845 at North Wangaratta and ten years later Wangaratta Turf Club moved to its present 1730m site at Osboldstone Road, Wangaratta. The Wangaratta Turf Club schedules around eleven race meetings a year, St Patrick’s Day Wangaratta Racing Club used this track for their charity meetings from 1923-2003, staging the first all grey horse race in Victoria as well as the first Sunday meeting in the area on the Wangaretta track.
Trotting commenced in the Wangaratta area with a three mile match race on 22 February 1859 between Sampson’s Black Hawk (winner) and Meldrum’s Kate for a stake of twenty sovereigns. Trotting commenced at the Wangaratta racecourse with a field of eight contesting a two lap race for trotters on 25 January 1878. Apart from these sporadic events and three programmes for trotters in the years immediately preceding WWI sponsored by the racing club on behalf of trotting patrons, it wasn’t until after the Second Word War that Wangaratta had its own trotting club.
The Wangaratta Trotting Club was formally constituted at a general meeting on 14 July 1952 although no track existed to race on. The swamp land area that was Avian Park was chosen on which to develop a trotting track. The original lease provided for twenty eight acres to be used for trotting and other sporting purposes at a renewable fee of £28 per annum for twenty one years. With 4,500 cubic metres of earth to be moved and the use of a considerable volunteer labour force, the cost of converting Avian Park from swamp land to a trotting track was $44,000 with the track located two kms from Wangaratta CBD.
Opening night occurred on Saturday 24 November 1956 when a crowd of 2,700 attended to watch Avian Derby parade at the track (3½ furlongs/704m) named in his honour. Gordon Rothacker drove Alltara the first winner at Avian Park. Originally allocated five race dates, this increased over time to ten. Mobile starts became a regular feature from 1962. Amalgamation raised its head in 1970 with pressure to move its operation to Wangaratta racecourse. Other sporting bodies were invited to utilise Avian Park – football, baseball, basketball, cycling and hot rod drivers included. In December 1973 the local greyhound club began holding their meetings on a track positioned inside the Avian Park trotting track (greyhound racing ceased in 2009).
The current Avian Park track is 813m in size, however the Wangaratta Trotting Club raced at Shepparton during the period 2006 – 2011 and occasionally since but now their feature races the Wangaratta Pacing (since 1968) and Trotting Cups (Daniel Boon Cup since 1962) are run in March at Avian Park.
Regional Track : WARRAGUL
Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north, 102 kilometres (63 miles) south-east of Melbourne. The earliest trotting event in the Warragul area was on New Year’s Day 1889 at nearby Drouin where Orphan Girl defeated Struggler in a match race (grass track six furlongs 25 yards).
Harness racing at Warragul started in the early 1900’s with the old dirt track at the Showgrounds. Warragul is one of Victoria’s longest established trotting (harness racing) clubs – in operation since 1939. The real development of the Showgrounds facility commenced in 1945 when the Warragul Shire Council agreed to lease the grounds to the Sportsground Improvement Committee (SIC) on condition they expend $1,000 per annum on improvements, a peppercorn rent allowed development with trotting being focal point.
With a lease signed in 1946, development of the twenty six acre site started, demolition of a condemned grandstand and drainage of the swampy ground was required. To finance the project, $9,000 was raised in interest free debentures, a $4,000 grant obtained from the SIC on work commencement and two further $2,000 grants on completion. Some 40,000 cubic yards of fill was required to build up the area and in total 100,000 yards of material were required to complete the sportsground project. Thanks to hundreds of hours of volunteer labour, the projects completed cost of $26,690 was likely a tenth of the full commercial cost. The completed sportsground incorporated a football pitch and cricket oval plus velodrome in addition to the trotting track. Provision had been made for a greyhound track inside the harness track.
A gymkhana meeting held on Boxing Day 1947 saw the new course (666m) utilised for the first time. Warragul’s inaugural meeting on Logan Park was held on Saturday 30 October 1948. Brilliant pacer Silver Peak (NSW Derby, Hunter Cup) was a winner of the main event off 60 yards on opening day. An overhead lighting system was installed and night racing commenced in April 1952 with a lighting upgrade completed in 1970 at a cost of $100,000. Problems were encountered with shadows encroaching onto the track, it took three years to resolve these issues. The other problematic issue was the lack of track width making a mobile gate start impossible.
Greyhound racing inside the harness track eventually came into use in the early 1970’s. Many facility upgrades occurred over the years with the Dan Talbot Dining Room completed at a cost of $160,000 in 1983. Night trotting continued at Warragul until 6 October 1987 and then reverted to day time racing from 27 Dec 1988 on an extended 805m track, upgraded to 837m.
The Warragul Harness Racing Club currently holds approx. eight/nine daytime race meetings per season with barrier trials on Saturdays and track work available all year round. The Gippsland Harness Training Centre operates on-course all year round and public stabling facilities are available at reasonable rates. Feature events for the Warragul HRC since 1955 are its Group Three Pacing Cup and Eddie Evison Trotters Cup held each April.
Regional Track : WEDDERBURN
Wedderburn is a rural town in Victoria on the Calder Highway, 214 kms (133 miles) north of Melbourne. The Korong Turf Club raced at Wedderburn prior to 1885 and it was succeeded by the Wedderburn Racing Club, which conducted a mixture of galloping and trotting at the old racecourse (1 km out of town; seven furlongs 206 yard track) commencing with a five race meeting on 26 September 1885. Boxing Day 1888 a horse named Carrier won a trotting race appears to be the first recorded trotting result from Wedderburn.
Galloping came to an end in 1922 at Wedderburn and harness racing continued on a then reduced six furlong track to enable better spectator viewing. Unlike many Victorian clubs, Wedderburn’s Trotting Club continued racing through the depression years and held unregistered meetings during WWII. Plans to develop a purpose built trotting track in Wedderburn were developed in the 1950’s leading to the closure of the grass track and becoming a granite based motorcycle track which now makes up part of the thirteenth hole of the Wedderburn Golf Course.
The Donaldson Park facility of the Wedderburn and District Trotting Club (now HRC) held its inaugural meeting on Saturday 4 April 1953 with an estimated 5,000 patrons in attendance. The original plans called for a track of 745 yards in circumference, later expanded to 785m and now the 805m circuit in current use. Much of the work was carried out by volunteer labour.
Annual feature races are the Wedderburn Pacing and Trotting Cups first run in 1973, now held in January and in various seasons the Central Victorian Pacing Championship (1960 – 2005 & 2020; other seasons shared by Maryborough, Charlton, Bendigo, Boort) and the Group Three Central Victorian Trotting Championship (occasionally since 1986 at Wedderburn).
Additional country Victoria trotting tracks are located at :
- Graduation Clubs – Bacchus March (802m), Birchip (805m), Robinvale (718m), Sebastian (Bendigo Showgrounds), Warrnambool (805m), Diamond Valley (Yarrambat Park)
- Training only venues – Ballan, Chilten, Croydon, Lancefield, Southern , Yarrawonga
Next Time : Ballarat
Peter Craig
21 July 2021
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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