Merriwa Race Club
The Merriwa Racecourse is located about 3 kilometres to the southeast of the centre of town, with racing a very popular activity from at least as early as the onset of the 1870’s.
The feature event of the current Merriwa Racing Calendar is the running of the Merriwa Cup, held annually in April. Feature Race Day hospitality options at the track are typical country fare, with marquees available for hire, canteen facilities and fully stocked bars aplenty.
The club also provides a range of alternative entertainment scheduled for their feature day, such as fashions on the field, live music and free kids activities.
Muswellbrook Race Club
Award winning Muswellbrook Race Club is one of the oldest continuous race clubs in NSW, having been established in 1862. With 18 race meetings scheduled annually, Muswellbrook Race Club has an excellent reputation with the support of many leading country and provincial trainers, who engage a number of high profile and accomplished jockeys.
The racecourse, located 2.5 kms west of the town centre just off Denman Road was named Skellatar Park in honour of local champion thoroughbred Skellatar who was owned and raced by Hunter Bowman in the late 1930’s. With 5 tracks being utilised; course proper, B-grass, sand, cinders and dirt, it makes Muswellbrook Race Club one of the largest Regional Training Centres in Country NSW.
Beautifully manicured gardens and lovely shaded lawn areas are a feature of Muswellbrook’s facilites. The RN Webber Racing Centre which houses the Silks Restaurant is very popular for Weddings, Birthdays and corporate functions as well as being used for members and sponsors on race days.
Scone Race Club
The current racecourse, constructed in 1994, is only 2 minutes from Scone Airport. The racing surface is known to be the best country circuit in New South Wales It attracts the leading city and provincial trainers such as Peter Snowden, Gai Waterhouse, Chris Waller, John O’Shea, Paul Perry and Kris Lees, to name a few.
Leading riders such as Hugh Bowman, Corey Brown, Nash Rawiller, Tommy Berry and James McDonald and others support the meeting.
The Scone Cup was first run in 1947 and became Listed in 2006. The Dark Jewel Classic was first run in 1996 and due to the superior quality of the fields, became Listed in 1999. In 2014 the Dark Jewel Classic will be run for the first time as a Group 3 – the only country race club in NSW to conduct a Group 3 race. With the advent of the two day metropolitan stand-alone carnival in 2011 and it’s resounding success, the Scone Quality Open 1100m was elevated to Listed status. Following the 2012 Emirates Park Scone Cup Carnival, the 2YO Fillies, 3YO Fillies and the Scone Open 1300m were also awarded Listed status and the Inglis 3YO Guineas was awarded Restricted Listed status. Over the carnival there are now 1 Group 3 race, 5 Listed races as well as the $400,000 Inglis 3YO Guineas (RL). A feast of racing and black type!