Newcastle racecourse has been regarded as one of the premier provincial racing venues in Australia for more than 100 years.

Newcastle racecourse is located at Broadmeadow, a Newcastle suburb only 3km from the city’s CBD,

and is renowned as one of the most spacious in Australia that gives all horses a fair chance. Also known as Broadmeadow Racecourse, the wide Newcastle course proper has a circumference of 2000m featuring a long back straight and a home straight of 415m.

Newcastle Jockey Club conducts more than 30 race meetings per year with the racing highlights being the Newcastle Gold Cup meeting in September and Newmarket meeting in March. Another feature is the Spring Stakes which has generated great form lines in the 3yo ranks.

Newcastle racecourse used to attract huge numbers on Boxing Day each year with holiday crowds of up to 15,000 people but that has declined recently.

Newcastle racecourse boasts a mix of historic grandstands and extensive modern race day facilities.

In recent years Newcastle Jockey Club has focused on major track and training improvements. These included a rebuilding of the course proper as an all-weather turf course and the construction of a new inside Beaumont turf track that caters for both training and racing at a cost of more than $11 million. A further $2.5 million was spent on upgrades to racecourse infrastructure.

Newcastle racecourse is the biggest training centre in NSW outside Sydney and supports more than 30 trainers using its training facilities.

Some great horses have come from Newcastle. Luskin Star is one of the most famous. The “Colossal Colt from the Coalfields” as he was nicknamed, came to Sydney and won the triple crown as a 2yo but his Golden Slipper victory is regarded as one of the greatest wins ever by a juvenile.

Another momentous horse was Choisir whose racing feats in Australia were good including a Lightning Stakes but his greatest achievement was to go to Royal Ascot in 2003 and blaze a trail for Aussie sprinters that continues to this day.

In 2003 he won the King’s Stand Stakes and Golden Jubilee Stakes within four days to the amazement of the British racing fraternity. He then came a close second in the July Cup before being retired to stud.