Kilcoy Racecourse is an hour’s drive from central Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Kilcoy Racecourse, home to the Kilcoy Racing Club, features a variety of programs including galloping, mini trotting and sled racing competitions.
The racetrack regularly hosts local events such as Digger and Veteran Race Days, as well as major events such as the Tattersall Racing Club Christmas Cup and the Great North Cannonball Final.
Here is a brief overview of the Kilkoy Racecourse’s history, physical features, and amenities.
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History of the Kilkoy Hippodrome
Kilkoy is a small farming town in the Lake Somerset area named by Sir Evan Mackenzie, an early settler in the 1840s. He named the place after his family’s land of Kilcoy in Scotland. Horse racing in the area dates back to the 1880s at the racecourse, which was supposed to have the smallest circumference of any ground in Queensland.
The first races at Kilkoe are believed to have been held in 1887 in the paddock of the Glen Fern Hotel, under the supervision of the Glen Fern Hotel’s secretary, John McPherson, and the treasurer, Thomas Walker, who bet on the races.
In 1903, the Kabul Council allocated a site in the west of Kilkoy for the construction of a hippodrome. The first race at the modern Kilkoy Racecourse took place in 1907, and a public holiday was declared on its opening day.
Today Kilkoy Racecourse is home to the Kilkoy Racing Club and is owned by Somerset Regional Council. The racetrack is part of the Kilcoy Recreation Grounds located on the fairgrounds.
Kilkoy hippodrome services
Kilcoy Racecourse is located about 100 km northwest of Brisbane, southeast of Queensland and is built within the boundaries of the Kilcoy Showgrounds. Known as the North Muni Valley, it hosts some of the most significant racing events in the region.
Surrounded by rolling hills, beautiful pastures and lakes, the racetrack is ideally located in a scenic location, making attending on-site races an enjoyable experience. Most of the spectators attending racing meetings at the racecourse come from Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Kilcoy Racecourse has a circumference of 1270 meters and a finish line of 147 meters, one of the shortest in the country. The track is covered with Kikuyu grass. The treadmill has a narrow rounded shape and limited straight sections. This makes Kilcoy suitable for leaders. The track has sharp turns, which makes the inner barriers favorable for most starts. There are four slopes on the track at an altitude of 1500 m, 1200 m, 1100 m and 800 m.
Kilcoy Racecourse is designed for races between 800 and 2000 meters with a long chute that provides a starting point for sprints over 800 meters. This allows you to run 600m in a straight line to your home turn. In addition, this 800m chute is used for races over 1900m and 2000m. Meanwhile, other chutes allow shorter runs to the turning point of the course from the starting points of 1500m, 1200m and 1100m.
The Kilkoy Hippodrome underwent a major renovation with the aim of redevelopment of the Kilkoy Grandstand in 2019. The Hippodrome reopened in March 2020 after a major renovation. The project included the addition of an indoor and outdoor dining area, a communal barbecue area, seating for around 300 people, and refurbishment of the disabled access and betting area. In addition, a direct connection to the roadside pavilion was added, and the existing Ken and Mary Nunn pavilion was also remodeled.
The Kilkoy Recreation Grounds, where the racecourse is located, is also home to the Kilkoy Show Society, the Kilkoy Pony Club, the Rodeo Committee, the Stanley River Polocross Club and the Queensland Working Cow Horse Club.
Racing at Kilkoy Hippodrome
Kilcoy Racing Club hosts between seven and ten races each year, including canter, mini trot and sled racing events.
The most significant racing event in the Kilkoy racing calendar is the Kilkoy Cup. The Kilcoy Cup has a 1200m course and a $25,000 purse. The full name of the race is the Keith Beavis and Karl Bartels Kilkoy Cup. Keith Beavis and Carl Bartels were the founders of Beavis and Bartels Contractors and are known for their philanthropic contributions to the Gold Coast community. Their families sponsor the Kilkoy Cup, which is why the event is named after them.
The Kilkoy Cup is held annually in the summer. Another favorite is the Vietnam Veterans Cup. This is a class 2 handicap 1900m race. This year, Kilkoy and the Vietnam Veterans Cup took place on the same day, the 27th August.
