Narrandera Race Club

About Us

Brief History

Life Members

Narrandera Race Club has a rich history from its inception in 1879, running annual events since 1907. By 1929 the two-day Narrandera spring races sported a £235 prize pool, which would be $23,000 in today's money. Now the 1800m circuit annually hosts 3 TAB race meetings in June and July culminating in the August Community Bank Narrandera Cup which also serves as a qualifier for the $3 million Royal Randwick Big Dance.

2025 Committee

President Graeme Mathieson

Senior Vice President Mark Tait

Junior Vice President Peter Eurell

Treasurer Fiona Charles

Secretary Sue Ruffles

Racing Manager Michael Bailey

Track Manager Gary Powell

Functions Manager Lee Sweeney

1969 Mr I K Russell Snr

1969 Mr L J Pirani

1970 Mr T Dodwell

1970 Mr A W Molony

1973 Mr J Owens

1977 Mr S N Andrew

1979 Mr T C Lee OAM

1985 Mrs N Rava

1986 Mr G G Dangar

2003 Mrs M J Anslow OAM

2004 Mr A Vrieling

2004 Mr M J Bailey

2013 Mrs M M Bailey

2013 Mrs J F Bashir

2024 Mrs B Hughes

Club History

Narrandera Race Club (NRC) was established on the 1st January 1879. In 2029 it will be the 150 years of racing in Narrandera and that will be a celebration to look forward to. The first track was located at Gillenbah, south of the Murrumbidgee River and the current-day Narrandera township. This original track was moved after about 10 years due to a couple of floods across that area.

Reportedly it moved into town, possibly in the current airport area, before some smart people moved it to the current position at north Narrandera on Racecourse Road. That decision was genius with the sandy loam soil great for drainage. NRC has one of the better wet weather tracks in NSW that, with sufficient irrigation, can be raced on all year round.

During the 1950s the NRC hosted professional and picnic meetings. The club enjoyed a grandstand which had a member’s area underneath with a big open fire. This was the place to be for after-parties for patrons to enjoy with scotch and cigars all round. Unfortunately, on one fateful occasion, the fire was left not correctly attended. Sadly, the fire got away and the grandstand burnt down.

This fire was a major blow for the club and a temporary hay shed style structure was erected until a new grandstand could be built. That was the plan but this build never happened. The club slowly went backwards until the mid-1980s when a change of club management set the club on the path to be a very successful and professional race club with outstanding facilities, grounds and track.

The 1990s saw the new toilets built followed by the covered betting ring. During this time Bob Lander was a driving force along with Leone Vrieling, Ivan George, Sue Watkins, Marj Anslow and the then Mayor, Shirley Hocking. Securing government and racing funding enabled the NRC to build the existing fantastic function centre. Following, and current, committees continued with upgrades to toilets, enclosure fencing, judges box and ground improvements with plans for a new secretary’s office/stewards and jockeys’ facility to be built in coming years. Exciting times are ahead for NRC.

In the early 2000s NRC secured a Monday TAB meeting. A decision that was met with varying supports around town but is believed to be a watershed day for the future of the club. From there, NRC progressed to two TAB meetings with increased prizemoney. A next significant decision was moving the Narrandera Cup Race Day meeting from a Saturday in August to a Sunday in July. This move has proved to be a popular and positive one for NRC. Now NRC is a full TAB club with the 2025 Community Bank Narrandera Cup having $70,000 in prizemoney and the whole day total prizemoney of $310,000. Additionally, the Cup winner and 2nd place getter qualify for the $3,000,000 Big Dance final at Randwick in November 2025. Racing at Narrandera has come a long way since 1879!