The small New South Wales village of Deepwater lies in the North Tablelands region of the state, on the northern banks of the Deepwater River, some 25 miles north of Glen Innes. The area was originally inhabited by the Ngarabal tribe, the village’s name being derived from the tribes ‘talgambuun’ meaning dry country full of dead trees, although in 1844 and 1845 there were regrettable events by the Windeyer brothers who took over wide expanses of land at the expense of the Ngarabal people. Despite only having a population of less than 500, the town holds its own race meeting which dates back over 130 years, with the earliest record of a meeting administered by the Deepwater Jockey Club taking place in December 1875. The next year the meeting was staged on Monday 27th December 1876, and selected results from that early meeting are shown below:-
Maiden Plate:- Chance owned by Mr McCafferty beat Beeswing owned by Mr Sullivan
New Years Gift Race:- Chance owned by Mr McCafferty beat Widow owned by Mr McRae
Hurry Skurry:- Split the Wind owned by Mr Summitt |
By 1880 the Deepwater Racing Club had taken charge of the organisation of the meetings, when the card on 24th May included the Maiden Plate, which was won by Little Queen owned by Mr J Finn, and the Deepwater Handicap which was taken by Mr N Gannon’s Snip. |
The present day racecourse stands on the land of the former Station and was owned by the Macansh family prior to being given to the Jockey Club around the time of the First World War. The course has hosted Amateur Picnic races and meetings organised by the Deepwater Jockey Club in the past, although the highlight of the racing year remains the Deepwater Cup traditionally held on the third Saturday in January over 1400 metres.
Recent Deepwater Cup winners
(A full list is available on request)
2009 Deepwater Cup ($4,900) over 1400 metres was won by Our Gangster (Evens fav) trained by John Shelton and ridden by Adam Hyeronimus, beating Art Major and Stravigent 5 ran
2010 Deepwater Cup ($4,900) over 1350 metres was won by Mr Braveheart (2/1 fav) trained by Wayne Oakenfull and ridden by Jasen Watkins, beating Glorious Gaze and Zod 7 ran
2011 Deepwater Cup meeting was abandoned
2012 Deepwater Cup ($4,900) over 1350 metres was won by Innocent Billy (13/2) trained by Nathan Sindar and ridden by Terry Treichel, beating Tollemache and Brackley Hatch 9 ran
2013 Deepwater Cup ($6,460) over 1400 metres was won by Peaceful Belle (6/4 fav) trained by Wayne Lawson and ridden by Ben Looker, beating Rioqualo and Cabriole 5 ran
2014 Deepwater Cup ($6,460) over 1400 metres was won by Rhodonite (7/2) trained by Lea Selby ad ridden by Vad Bolozhinskyi, beating Rioqualo and Dalhausser 7 ran
2015 Deepwater Cup ($6,460) over 1400 metres was won by Sambora (5/1) trained by Karen Fox and ridden by Melissa Brown, beating Rhodonite and Threebigrivers 7 ran
2016 Deepwater Cup ($6,460) over 1400 metres was won by BorderFlight (9/4) trained by Sue Grills and ridden by Sophie Young, beating Centauraine and Strawberrychampane 8 ran
2017 Deepwater Cup ($6,540) over 1400 metres was won by Carry Me Gee Gee (Evens fav) trained by Paddy Cunningham and ridden by Matthew Paget, beating Amajill and Bongo Bobby 5 ran
2018 Deepwater Cup ($6,455) over 1400 metres was won by Cavitation (4/1) trained by Bill Perrett and ridden by Geoff Snowden, beating Racecraft and San Sabarto 7 ran |
