COOTAMUNDRA TURF CLUB
In early pioneering days, the horse was the only power-propelling transport. One’s social standing was judged more by the breeding and quality of one’s horse than by any other possession. Many old and respected family names associated with early Cootamundra were connected with the formation of the Cootamundra Turf Club.
Formed in 1876 with a roll of about 30 members, the Club acquired control of a grant of about 160 acres of land about three miles from the town.
Mr John Barnes was the first President, and Mr A. Simpson supported him as Secretary, and the committee men were Messrs. M. Mullaly, A. Eagar, E. Barnes, N. Healey, A. Dempsey, F. Pinkstone, G. McDonald, W. Byrne, J. Hurley, W. Archer, E. Strongitharm and R. Chapman.
The first small meeting was well supported, and the club continued to do well; a few years later, a £1,250 grant from the Government and an overdraft of £500 from the Bank of NSW were applied to improvements on the course.
This finance enabled the club to ‘Fence with post and rails and three wires the whole reserve, erect entrance gates, clear and grub the course a chain wide for the whole distance round, raise the course in places by carting thousands of loads of earth, level the track, fix drains and watercourses to carry of storm water, sink a tank, erect a palisading in front of the saddling paddock, and rail the straight.’
Most of those improvements remain to this day. Mr. James Gormley, of Wagga, was the first official handicapper, and he was succeeded before the turn of the century by Mr James Price. Mr. N. Byrne was the judge and Mr A. Dempsey the starter.
The Cootamundra Turf Club was soon established as one of the leading clubs in the southern districts. Sydney and Melbourne horses competed regularly, and special trains were run from other districts.
Tattersalls Sweeps were run on several Cootamundra Cups (a race of £100 and a Cup valued at €100). When Ready Money won the event. Mr. James Graham, of Cootamundra, and later of Bongongo, held the winning ticket for the £1,000 prize.
In 1882, a grandstand was erected at a cost of £195. In 1904, the grandstand and secretary’s office were destroyed by fire, and Mr. E. R. Laver, the architect, was commissioned to visit Randwick, Flemington, and Albury before designing the new buildings that remain to serve the present club.
In the dying days of the nineteenth century, the committee passed a rather odd resolution authorising the president of the district hospital to “enter upon the saddling paddock with his musical box for the benefit of the hospital.”
The surveyed length of the course is nine furlongs, six yards, six inches, railed for the whole distance, with a straight run home of two furlongs.
The ‘track’ is considered one of the best in the country, and for this reason, Cootamundra meetings always attract good fields.
YEAR NOT KNOWN …
Mr. Angus Power is President, and Mr Frank Twomey, Secretary, of the Cootamundra Turf Club.
The racecourse is controlled by trustees appointed by the Government, the present trustees being Messrs. A. Bragg, A. Power, R. Ward, M. Meagher and W. Lindsay.
The trustees have prepared an overall plan for extensive improvements to the course, including facilities to cater for the larger attendances, which now feature racing in Cootamundra.
The Southern Districts Racing Association, being an association of member clubs extending from Crookwell, Goulburn, Queanbeyan and Cooma, in the East to Hay, and Deniliquin in the West, was formed in 1909.
Two years later, the Secretary, Mr. Norman Hay, moved the Association headquarters from Albury to Cootamundra. Within a few years, Mr. Bert Osmond succeeded to the secretaryship and continued in control until his retirement in March 1949. He died within a few days of his retirement. Mr. Norman Pinkstone took his place.
The Southern Districts Picnic Race Club was formed early in the century, and, except for two war periods, has conducted annual race meetings at Cootamundra. Recent meetings have been highly successful. Mr Alan Bragg, of ‘Landgrove’, is President, and Mr. E. Williams, Secretary.
There have been few race meetings as successful, in attendance and class of fields, as those conducted by the Cootamundra Diggers’ Race Club.
This club was formed, firstly, in 1939 when the R.S.L. ran a meeting to raise funds for the Patriotic and War Fund. The Cootamundra Diggers revived the club after the war and have since conducted two or three racing meetings yearly. Mr. N. Bassingthwaighte is President, and Mr. Frank Twomey, Secretary.
The Diggers’ Race Club has raised more than £4,000 for charity,
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Article found and submitted by Mr. Graeme McAlister, CTC committee member, 2024
CTC TODAY 2025 …
The Cootamundra Turf Club is led by a long-time local, Mr. Jeff Bristow, and a new team of six committee members elected in 2024.
The racecourse and administration are presently undergoing a large review and revamp in preparation for some exciting times ahead in 2026 to celebrate 150 years of racing in Cootamundra.