Clubs & Courses
Clubs that race at Oamaru
Clubs & Courses IndexClub
Gore R.C.
Gore racecourse, the home of the Gore Racing Club is a key location in Southland and has played an important part in the history of thoroughbred racing in New Zealand as a training and racing venue. The Gore RC, formed in 1889 has three race meetings a year with the listed Gore Guineas the feature event in January. The Tapanui and Wyndham Racing Clubs and Gore Harness Racing Club also hold race meetings on the 1600m track with a 350m straight. The Gore club opens the Southland season in September. Ted Winsloe and Rex Cochrane, the leading trainers for New Zealand in the 1960s and 70s were based at Gore. Cochrane was three times the leading NZ trainer and Winsloe twice. Winsloe trained the winners of seven of the eight flat races at a Gore RC meeting in October 1964. The racecourse is situated on 50 hectares of freehold land and provides a magnificent floral display in the spring with flowering cherries, rhododendrons and azaleas. The Gore RC made the property available as an emergency hospital during the influenza epidemic in 1918 which killed 9000 people in NZ.
Enjoy the privileges of a Gore Racing Club membership:
Gore Racing Club Membership per season: $25.00
Privileges include:
- 2 x stylish keyring members tags
- free entry to all Gore RC race days
- complimentary racebook
- exclusive right of access to the Members Bar on race day
- complimentary drinks & nibbles
- parking rights on restricted days
- club voting rights.
To hear the different hospitality options available for any of the racedates held at Gore from September through to March, please contact Jo on cell 021 246 5889 or email jo@gallopsouth.co.nz
Contact details
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P O Box 8018,
Glengarry
Invercargill 9845T: 03 973-0111
E: jo@gallopsouth.co.nz
Contact: Jo Gordon
events.loveracing.nz/Gore
Featured meeting
Liquorland Gore Guineas – January
One of the feature days of the Gallop South Festival. The highlight is the Listed $60,000 Liquorland Gore Guineas.
Getting to the end of the school holidays, running out of things for the kids to do? Bring them to the Gore Races! With thrilling thoroughbred racing action and all day, free, kids entertainment there is something for the whole family this summer!
Course
Oamaru
Oamaru Racecourse prides itself on being able to offer good winter going and its central South Island location means it’s supported by trainers from far and wide. Home to the Oamaru Jockey Club, the course is going through one of the greatest renaissances in the Gallop South region. Following a number of years of poor community support and low attendances, the facility is being nursed back to its former glory by a dedicated team, so much so that Oamaru Cup Day achieved the biggest on-course turnover of any rival winter racing club on the eastern side of the South Island.
| Distance | Time | Horse | Date |
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Contact details
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Oamaru JC
PO Box 269
Mosgiel, Dunedin
Oamaru Racecourse
Pukeuri-Oamaru Road
Oamaru 9494T: 03 489 6233
F: 03 489 3119
E: gm@wingatui.co.nz
W: https://events.loveracing.nz/oamarujc
Course Info
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Admission: All Oamaru meetings are free.
Oamaru has two comfortable grandstands, one of which is reserved for members. They also have a separate sponsor’s bar, which is available for hire. There are numerous catering outlets with the food run by renowned local hostelry, The Last Post, who many patron’s believe offer the best selection of food in a public area at any racecourse in the South Island.
All meetings
Open/close| Date | Club | Meeting Name/Type |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 15 Jun 2025 | Oamaru JC | Other |
| Sun 20 Jul 2025 | Oamaru JC | Other |
Featured meeting
Oamaru Cup Day – July
Held traditionally right at the end of the racing season in July. As a result, it has often been the venue for “premiership” showdowns between the country’s leading jockeys and trainers hungry to get final wins on the board to secure their title. The Oamaru Cup and the North Otago Cup often attract quality horses targeting the Winter Cup, and large fields are often prominent due to the excellent winter racing surface the track is able to provide. Audience participation events have become a tradition of late and the Cup day also feature the “North Otago Gumboot Tossing Championship”, including the Oamaru All-Ages Booticap. There is a very competitive Team Punters Challenge, a Punters Club and heaps of kid’s activities. One of the other forms of entertainment is a North v South Jockey Challenge.