The small New South Wales village of Geurie lies in the Orana Region of the state, between the City of Dubbo and Wellington. It has good transport links, benefitting from a train service between Dubbo and the state capital Sydney. Despite having a population of less than 500 inhabitants, it runs a successful Picnic Race Club when the highlight of the meeting, traditionally held on the last Saturday in January or fist Saturday in February, is the Geurie Picnic Trophy over 1400 metres. However, the earliest mention of races in the town was on Easter Monday 1894 when races were organised under the direction of Secretary Mr J N Payne. The next year the races were once again held on Easter Monday 15th April 1895 when tragedy struck. The young jockey Evans, from Ponto, was killed in a race when his horse veered off course and the jockey hit a tree and died almost immediately. In 1896 the races were held on Easter Monday 6th April and were once again organised by Mr J N Payne. The principal race winners were Mr Huff and Mr T Collier, while after racing had ended there was a successful dance held at Geurie Hall, the music being supplied by Mr Baker and Mr Bush. |
Into the early years of the 20th century, races were held prior to the outbreak of the First World War, and represented the inaugural meeting of the newly formed Geurie Amateur Race Club, with Mr G Whiteley acting as Secretary. That opening meeting was staged on Wednesday 26th January 1910 and the feature race results are shown below:-
Wednesday 26th January 1910
Bald Hill Handicap over 7 furlongs
1. Cranlight (Evens fav) owned by Mr Slack and ridden by A C Giles
2. Cawarra (2/1) owned by Mr H L Smith and ridden by J B Whiteley
3. Incolatus (4/1) owned by Mr M Hennessey and ridden by J Ward
Geurie Amateur Race Club Handicap over 1 mile
1. Dandy Jim (5/2) owned by Mr T Whiteley and ridden by J B Whiteley
2. Skipper (4/1) owned by Mr E Owen and ridden by W E Taylor
3. Cranlight (2/1) owned by Mr Slack and ridden by A C Giles
One Tree Hill Stakes Handicap over 7 furlongs
1. Trentis (1/3 fav) owned by Mr A Gibbs and ridden by A Gibbs
2. Stella (3/1) owned by Mr J Crowley and ridden by W E Taylor
3. Spalpeen (2/1) owned by Mr Morley
4. Melrose (4/1) owned by Mr J Ward
The bookies were acting with contempt in making a 153% book on a four runner race. |
Recent Geurie Picnic Cup winners
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2011 Geurie Cup ($900) over 1400 metres was won by Sky Hussar (15/4) trained by Rodney Robb and ridden by Mr R Potter, beating Cunning As and Search ‘N’ Seek 8 ran
2012 Geurie Cup ($2,100) over 1400 metres was won by One Last Shot (6/1) trained by John McKinnon and ridden by Mr R Blewitt, beating Orbit and Snowy on the Tram 6 ran
2013 Geurie Cup ($2,800) over 1400 metres was won by Sea Commands (5/2) trained by Clint Lundholm and ridden by Mr M Scorse, beating Rockbuster and Poker Pro 8 ran
2014 Geurie Cup ($2,800) over 1400 metres was won by Dr Remlap (7/4 fav) trained by Kylie Kennedy and ridden by Mr R Blewitt, beating Panov and Shadow Warrior 5 ran
2015 Geurie Cup ($2,800) over 1400 metres was won by Saturlina (7/1) trained by Brett Thompson and ridden by Tim Phillips, beating Strong and Uaroo 8 ran
2016 Geurie Cup ($3,290) over 1400 metres was won by Blinkin Elle (8/1) trained by Clint Lundholm amd ridden by Mr Michael Gray, beating Two Noughty and Bemiles 7 ran
2017 Geurie Cup ($3,450) over 1400 metres was won by Sunshine Royale (15/4) trained by Garry Lunn and ridden by Katelyn Jenkinson, beating I’m Away and Double Halo 8 ran
2018 Geurie Cup ($3,400) over 1400 metres was won by Lakota Sioux (6/1) trained by Connie Greig and ridden by Michael Wade, beating Spinning Dawn and Sunshine Royale 8 ran |
