Great Western Racecourse History

The small Western highway town of Great Western is famous for two reasons, wine and horse racing. Home of the renowned Seppelt winery, the town also hosts one of Victoria’s best known and most loved country race meetings, Great Western Cup Day.

The earliest reports of horse racing in the town date back to 1859. In 1860 the Ararat Advertiser reported a particularly colourful day at the Great Western races. Supporters of favourite Black Boy invaded the track in order to prevent the second horse, Punch, from winning. Naturally Punch’s supporters were not impressed with this display of poor sportsmanship and a wild brawl erupted. Eventually the course was cleared so the races could continue, but “as the last race was about to start, fighting broke out again and the day’s racing terminated in a general free fight”.

Racing at Great Western has come a long way since the early pioneer days, and the annual Cup Day now boasts a family picnic atmosphere, although there is naturally plenty of fine wine to be enjoyed, courtesy of major sponsor Seppelt.

While relatively small in circumference, the track has a 300 metre long straight which is lined with trees, creating extremely picturesque surrounds as well as providing much needed shade.

The Wimmera Racing Club took over the administration of racing at Great Western in 2004 however still relies heavily on the Great Western local Committee in both the upkeep of the track and facilities and the organization and promotion of the races.