Barrier
advantages: Of least importance
at 1400 and 2400
Racing
on the Gold Coast dates back
to the 1890's when an occasional
public meeting was run in
the old cane paddocks of Bundall,
not far from the present Gold
Coast Turf Club.
Regular
racing at its present headquarters
began on 15 May 1946 when
the club was known as the
Southport and District Amateur
Race Club
(formed on 17 March 1946).
Racing in those days was on
a sand track.
In
January 1971, the club began
conducting races every Saturday.
In August of that year the
Club launched the Newmarket-Gold
Coast Cup
three-day carnival on a quality
grass track.
Back then the race was sponsored
by Carlton and United Breweries
and
carried prizemoney of just
$2,000.
In
1974, the Prime Minister’s
Cup was launched, carrying
Australia's richest
purse for a provincial race
of $30,000 and in 2002, the
Prime Minister’s Cup,
then sponsored by Conrad Jupiters,
became a stand-alone Saturday
race meeting.
In
2006 a record crowd of over
7500 people witnessed the
running
of the Carlton Draught Prime
Minister’s Cup which
included
a record prizepool for the
raceday of $1.16million.
Hosting
approximately 60 race meetings
each season, the
Gold
Coast Turf Club is also HOME
to several highly anticipated
major events.
The largest of these is the
Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions
Carnival held annually in
January over 19 days.
