History

The Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club is uniquely located just 40 minutes North of Adelaide, on the main road into the town of Gawler. In recent years, Gawler has gone from being regarded as a country town, and now is well known as an outer metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, while maintaining the country and rural atmosphere for which it is recognised.

The unique location of the Gawler Racecourse on the main road into Gawler ensures fantastic exposure for sponsors as approximately 20,000 cars travel past the Racecourse daily on their way to Adelaide or the beautiful Barossa Valley, which is located just 15 minutes from Gawler.  The Barossa Valley is world renowned as one of the great winemaking regions and home to a huge number of tourist destinations and accommodation.

In season 2005/06, Saturday racing returned to the Gawler Racecourse, and the Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club is the only Provincial Club to run a Saturday meeting for the season – and the Club has two of them. Season 2007/08 looks to be another exciting year of racing ahead, once again with two Saturday race days planned as well as the ever popular Sunday race dates.

The Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club is a vital link within the community of Gawler, and has forged a reputation as an icon of the town, with many locals having grown up going to the races at Gawler, and most commute past the Racecourse on a daily basis. The Gawler Racecourse is unique in that it has its own railway station, which enables patrons’ easy transport to and from Adelaide on race days.

As a provincial racing club, the Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club is seen as one of the leading racing venues in South Australia. With plans for a track upgrade and facility redevelopment in the planning stage, the future looks particularly bright for the Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club.