Launched in 2015, the inaugural Country Championships proved a resounding success for the racing industry and generated unprecedented interest and coverage.
An initiative of Racing NSW, The Country Championships was created to support and promote NSW racing in country areas, ensuring that horses from across the state are part of The Championships in Sydney in the autumn.
About The Series
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The Country Championships consists of a series of seven races, each held at a club representing one racing region in NSW.
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Each race will be worth $150,000 in prizemoney and will be contested by eligible horses that must be under the care of a country trainer in that region.
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The first and second horse in each regional race, plus the winners of two wild card races, will qualify for the $1,000,000 Evergreen Turf Country Championships Final to be held at Royal Randwick in Sydney on Day 1 of The Championships, Saturday 5 April 2025.
2025 - The Evergreen Turf Country Championships
Race Clubs
The Evergreen Turf Country Championships showcases some of New South Wales’ best racetracks. Covering all corners of the state. It is a great chance to visit Country NSW and cheer for your home team. Find out more information on each race club by reading the links below
SUN 16 FEB
PORT MACQUARIE
Port Macquarie Race Club is the leading club on the New South Wales Mid North Coast. Located 2.5km from both the Port Macquarie CBD and Airport, 5 hours north of Sydney and approximately 2 hours from Newcastle (all dual carriageway).
The current layout opened in 1968 (reconstructed in 2015 and resurfaced in 2024) was based on the old Rosebery track. Symmetrical layout consisting of 2 x 400m turns and 2 x 400m straights.
PMRC conducts 21 TAB race meetings annually and hosts a further 2 race meetings conducted by the Wauchope Jockey Club. The annual Port Macquarie Cup, a Big Dance eligible race, 2000m is conducted on the Friday following the Labour Day long weekend in October and preceded by the Cup Prelude 1800m, the last Sunday in September.
Outside of the Cup the most popular racedays are New Years Day and Easter Saturday. A feature Fillies and Mares event the $60,000 Queen of the North is held in late January each year.
Port Macquarie last hosted the Mid North Coast Country Championships in 2019.
SAT 22 FEB
LISMORE
The Lismore Turf Club is a fully functioning racing course, and the premier racing venue, located in North Lismore, on the beautiful Far North Coast of NSW Australia.
The Winning Post is one of Lismore’s best entertainment, wedding and conference venues. Our professional event staff ensure your wedding, event or business function is an unforgettable and hassle-free day.
The present racecourse site, off Winterton Parade just north of the town centre, has been Lismore’s racecourse since January 1924. At that time the racecourse was owned by the Lismore Jockey Club. It was subsequently sold to private interests.
The grounds were then purchased in 1968 by the AJC “in the general interest of racing” to ensure that the racecourse continued to exist.
In 2001 the AJC indicated its wish to sell the racecourse and the Lismore Turf Club Committee took the opportunity to make the purchase. The Lismore racecourse is one of only a handful of racecourses in Australia, let alone New South Wales, which is owned by the actual Turf Club.
The Northern Rivers Country Championships will be held at Lismore for the first time in 2025, the club was due to host the event in 2024 but rain forced its transfer.
SUN 23 FEB
NOWRA
Shoalhaven City Turf Club is located on the beautiful South Coast of NSW with 14 race meetings scheduled annually. Shoalhaven City Turf Club is well known as the friendliest club on the South Coast.
Located approximately 2 hours drive south of Sydney the Club attracts the support of many leading city and provincial trainers as well as country trainers.
The racecourse, known as Archer Racecourse, is located 6kms south of the Nowra Bridge. The club has two tracks (grass and sand) both of which are used for training.
The newly renovated Winning Post dining room offers the best views of the course and is fully accessible since the installation of our lift. The dining room has a balcony and viewing area and all facilities necessary for a race day or event.
Nowra last hosted the South East Country Championships in 2022.
FRI 28 FEB
ORANGE
Towac Park Racecourse is located 3kms from the town centre of Orange and is a thriving community venue incorporating not only racing, but many other sporting groups and activities.
Surrounded by wide open spaces, a backdrop of Mt Canobolas, and the history of a well-established racing venue, Towac Park is the perfect location for a fantastic day of racing or your next function or event.
The club holds nine race meetings per year, coinciding with feature events in Orange making it the perfect destination for a long weekend away or extended stay. Orange City Airport supports many regional destinations, and there are regular train and bus services available.
With Sydney only 3.5 hours away it's a must do to visit Orange NSW which is rapidly building a reputation as the food and wine capital of NSW.
In 2025 Orange hosts the Evergreen Turf Central Districts Country Championships for the first time.
SUN 1 MAR
WAGGA WAGGA
The Murrumbidgee Turf Club conducts 25 thoroughbred race meetings each year and is the largest racing and training centre in southern country NSW.
The annual highlight of the MTC is the prestigious Wagga Wagga Gold Cup carnival, which is the largest tourist attraction in the Riverina, drawing a crowd in excess of 14,000 people.
The club boasts picturesque gardens, great venues and ample parking makes us the ideal place to hold your cater for wedding receptions, seminars, conferences, award nights, expos, fairs & family reunions.
There are three exceptional venues for hire – the Members Area, Champagne Bar and Green Ridge Room.
One of Australia’s biggest emerging artists is set to headline the off the track party at Evergreen Turf Southern Districts Country Championships Race Day, which is being held at Wagga Wagga for the sixth time.
The Party on the Paddock precinct is ready for CYRIL to bring his chart-topping tracks and huge festival vibes to the races on Saturday 1st March 2025.
SUN 9 MAR
TAMWORTH
Tamworth is the spiritual home of Country Music in Australia and is also home to one of the premier racecourses in the Hunter and North West district.
The city is a five-hour drive north of Sydney and is also accessible via a daily direct train, with a journey of just over six hours, or by flying into Tamworth Regional Airport.
The historic Tamworth Jockey Club provides the perfect backdrop for an elegant garden wedding with its historic grandstand, race track, stables and finishing post. Manicured lawns and rose gardens provide the ideal setting for outdoor entertainment in a stylish marquee or in the enclosed betting ring.
The racecourse is located in the city’s west, at Britten Road Taminda, only a few minutes from the town’s centre.
The Evergreen Turf Hunter & North West Country Championships will be held for the eighth time at Tamworth Jockey Club in 2025.
SUN 16 MAR
COONAMBLE
Until it became host to the $150,000 Western Region Country Championships back in 2020, and has held the event since then, Coonamble’s Gold Cup had long been the club’s signature race with the first recorded running back in 1910.
However, the site of the present racecourse dates back to 1878 when a grandstand was built.
Coonamble is located some 530km north west of Sydney. Records don’t show any Coonamble Cups between 1912 and 1958 but for the past 60 years Cup Day has been an important event in the Coonamble Wool Festival.
You can enjoy a traditional country race meeting at Coonamble set next to the rolling greens of the golf course on the edge of town. With regular events you can view the spectacle from the historic grandstand or gardens while enjoying the bar and catering facilities.
You’ll find us out west where the people are friendlier, the dirt is redder and the beer is colder.
FRI 21 MAR
SCONE
Scone is located 280km north of Sydney in the heart of the Hunter Valley horse country and the current racecourse, constructed in 1994, is only 2 minutes from Scone Airport.
It is known to be the best country circuit in New South Wales and is the only country race club to hold a metropolitan Saturday meeting as part of the two-day Scone Cup Carnival each May.
The Scone Race Club Function Centre offers modern facilities with picturesque views across the internationally renowned race course and to the ranges beyond.
Creating the ideal setting whether it be an intimate private gathering, wedding, meeting or corporate event, the flexibility of inside and out, experience the venue that is the talk of the Upper Hunter.
The town itself is famous for its thoroughbred studs, which are the breeding grounds for countless champions of the turf.
Scone Race Club staged the Hunter & North West Country Championships in 2017 and 2018 and will host the Northern Wild Card for the third successive year in 2025.
SUN 23 MAR
GOULBURN
Goulburn has had a long association with racing, with records indicating that racing commenced in 1838 when challenge races were held by NSW Police Troopers. They were held in the vicinity of where the Gordon Hotel is today located.
The town is located approximately 195 kilometres south-west of Sydney and 90 kilometres north-east of Canberra.
The oldest Goulburn Cup Trophy dates back to 1883 and is currently displayed at the Race Club.
In 1999 the Goulburn & District Race Club moved to its new premises in Racecourse Drive off Taralga Road. The Club is now in charge of its own destiny and has no constraints.
It prides itself on providing the best thoroughbred racing in Country New South Wales, with the highest quality facilities for trainers and horses alike.
Goulburn has hosted the South East Country Championships six times and will stage the Southern Wild Card for the third time in 2025.