They Once Raced Here
The lost racecourses of Victoria
Like the other subjects I have tackled, this one began somewhat innocuously. We had just had lunch at the outstanding Lake House in Daylesford and were returning home to Geelong on the Daylesford – Ballan Road. Approaching Ballan, I noticed a signpost on the left that read ‘Race Course Road.’ I pondered that for a little while, thinking that I’d never heard of racing in Ballan. The name of the road must be for some reason, just like all the Creamery Roads you see in the country. And that was pretty much it.
What followed over the best part of the next five years (to date) is my search for the rest of the ‘lost’ racecourses in Victoria. What I didn’t realise at the beginning was how many there were and then just how hard it would be to track them all down. At the beginning, I started by simply compiling a list, but as I spoke with others it dawned on me that there was something of relevance and interest here. Over the journey, I heard that others had had the idea before me, but I could not find anything published. Sure, there are mentions of some former courses in a number of racing and history books, but no-one had tracked them all down and pulled it together. And that’s what I set out to do.
At first, I thought this research would result in a single volume but as my master list approached 1,000 locations — let alone courses, as each location could and in most cases did have multiple courses — I soon realised that there were too many for a single volume, and to do this justice it needed to be broken down. As geography seemed to make the most sense, I decided to use the Victorian Regional Partnerships map published by the Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions as my base. It seemed to quite nicely divide Victoria into regions, using underlying Local Government Areas (LGAs.)
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Barwon – Geelong, Queenscliffe, Surf Coast and Colac Otway.
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Central Highlands – Ararat, Ballarat, Golden Plains, Hepburn, Moorabool and Pyrenees.
Published as Volume I in July 2021.
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Loddon Campaspe – Loddon, Campaspe, Bendigo, Central Goldfields, Mount Alexander, and Macedon Ranges.
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Mallee – Mildura, Swan Hill, Buloke, and Gannawarra.
Published as Volume II in January 2023.
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Wimmera Southern Mallee – West Wimmera, Horsham, Northern Grampians, Yarriambiack, and
Hindmarsh. -
Great South Coast – Corangamite, Warrnambool, Moyne, Glenelg, and Southern Grampians.
Published as Volume III in March 2024.
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Goulburn – Moira, Greater Shepparton, Strathbogie, Mitchell, and Murrindindi.
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Ovens Murray – Mansfield, Benalla, Wangaratta, Indigo, Wodonga, Towong, and Alpine.
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Gippsland – East Gippsland, Wellington, Baw Baw, Latrobe, South Gippsland, and Bass Coast.
WIP for Volume IV.
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Greater Melbourne – Wyndham, Melton, Hume, Whittlesea, Nillumbik, Maroondah, Knox, Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Yarra Ranges, Casey, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula, French Island, and Cardinia.
Volume 1
Barwon and Central Highlands
July 2021
Volume II
Loddon Campaspe and Mallee
January 2023
Volume III
Great South Coast and Wimmera Southern Mallee
March 2024
The first volume was published in July 2021. It covers the Barwon and Central Highlands Regions. The second, published in January 2023 covers the Loddon Campaspe and the Mallee.
The third, just published covers Wimmera Southern Mallee and the Great South Coast.
Volume IV will be the east of Victoria. Gippsland looms as possibly one of the busiest areas of all.
I'll finish with Melbourne - plenty of known, and unknown courses there.
I hope that you enjoy!
The books are $40 (AUD) for one or $75 for two, delivered anywhere in Australia.
Please contact me at chris_ganly@hotmail.com for payment details or inquiries outside Australia.