Parkes racecourse is a prominent racing venue in the central west of NSW and is home to the Parkes Jockey Club. Racing in Parkes, located 100km south of Dubbo and 370km west of Sydney, began in 1886 with the first Parkes Cup held in 1887. Parkes Jockey Club hosts eight race meetings annually including the Parkes Cup in May and Merino Cup. The annual Parkes picnic races are also conducted by Parkes Jockey Club on the June long weekend.

Parkes racecourse is an almost perfectly symmetrical track with its circumference of 2000 metres featuring almost identical horseshoe turns and home and back straights of similar distance. The home straight is 400 metres long with a width of 25 metres. There is a rise in the track at the 1300m and another in the home straight. The sweeping horseshoe turns are cambered and favour horses drawn inside barriers over sprint distances. There are three starting chutes at the 800m, 1000m and 1400m Parkes racecourse feature kikuyu turf on a sandy base and is a good wet weather track.